Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

The Massachusetts criminal defense team for Gary Lee Sampson is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to argue that their client should get a new trial. Sampson, who a federal judge sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of three people, contends that his constitutional rights were violated because his trial lawyers at the time were ineffective.

Sampson’s new defense team is accusing his old one of failing to fully depict to the jury the entire extent of Sampson’s traumatic brain injuries and mental illness. They believe that the evidence might have caused the jury to recommend a less harsh sentence for Sampson. If executed, Sampson would be the first person in 63 years to be put to death for a Massachusetts crime.

Sampson fatally stabbed 69-year-old Philip McCloskey 24 times on July 24, 2001 after the latter had picked up the hitchhiker in Weymouth. Sampson also carjacked the victim's car. A few days later, Sampson fatally stabbed 19-year-old Jonathan Rizzo, a driver who picked him up in Plymouth. It would be just another three days before Sampson would strangle 58-year-old Robert Whitney.

Sampson later pleaded guilty to all three murders. A federal jury in Boston made the recommendation that he put to death and US Chief District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf ordered that Sampson be executed in New Hampshire, which has a state capital murder law. Massachusetts does not have a state death penalty.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Sampson’s death sentence. Later, the US Supreme Court decided not to hear his appeal. Now, prosecutors for the US Attorney’s office say that they intend to fight Sampson’s motion.

Prosecutors seek to dismiss Gary Lee Sampson’s appeal, Boston Herald, August 29, 2010

Lawyers for convicted killer in carjacking murder spree seek new trial, The Boston Globe, August 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Sampson Timeline, The Patriot Ledger, High Beam Research, July 24, 2002

Read the 1st Circuit Opinion for this Case, Justia

Continue reading "Sentenced to Death for Massachusetts Murder and Carjacking, Gary Lee Sampson Wants a New Trial " »

The state Supreme Judicial Court will likely issue a ruling in the next few weeks on Christopher McCowen’s appeal to have his Massachusetts murder and rape convictions in the slaying of fashion writer Christa Worthington overturned. McCowen’s criminal defense team is arguing that it was wrong to allow the a substitute pathologist to testify about findings in an autopsy that another doctor had performed and they are now citing a recent SJC ruling that overturned the murder conviction of Eric J. Durand for the fatal beating of Brendon Camara, his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son, on similar grounds.

McCowen was convicted in 2006 for Worthington’s Truro, Massachusetts rape and murder. The 46-year-old Vassar-educated writer and Truro resident was found stabbed to death in her home in January 2002. Her 2 ½ year old daughter was with her, unharmed but hugging her mom’s body and smeared in blood.

In 2005, Police charged McCowen, who was the trash collector for Worthington’s residence, with the slaying. Even though McCowen agreed to let police test his DNA soon after the murder, it would be two years before the authorities would collect his DNA and another year before it was matched to the crime.

A little over a year after McCowen’s 2006 conviction for Massachusetts murder and rape, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary A. Nickerson held a public hearing during which time he interviewed jury members about allegations of racial bias. McCowen is black. The allegations formed the basis for McCowen’s criminal defense lawyer's request for a new trial, but the judge would go on to turn down the motion. McCowen’s Massachusetts criminal defense attorneys have challenged this ruling.

Cape and Islands prosecutor Julia K. Holler, who represented the state in McCowen’s appeal, says that while it was wrong for a pathologist other than the one that conducted the autopsy to testify in McCowen’s criminal case, because McCowen’s criminal defense lawyer did not object to a criminal trial the state’s highest court has to limit its review to whether the testimony created a “substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice." This is a higher legal standard than what was applied to Durand’s appeal and one which Holler claims that McCowen’s conviction case does not meet.

SJC ruling hovers over 2002 Cape slaying case, Boston.com, August 28, 2010

Conviction reversed in Mass. boy’s beating death, Boston Herald, August 20, 2010

SJC hears Christopher McCowen appeal, Cape Cod Online, May 7, 2010

Related Web Resources:
The General Laws of Massachusetts

Murder on the Cape: A tale of love and death, Boston.com, January 20, 2002

Continue reading "SJC Ruling Could Overturn Christopher McCowen’s Convictions for Massachusetts Rape and Murder in Slaying of Christa Worthington" »

The news to which we have referred a couple of times this week has remained in the news all week. Namely, Phillip Markoff, the alleged Craigslist Killer, apparently took his own life at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston. His attorney has expressed surprise and sadness and the local D.A. has proclaimed it to be consciousness of guilt.

Typical, right?

Well, there is an existing irony. When Markoff was arrested for his alleged crimes, our law enforcement leaders and politicians (both in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to name a few) seemed to proclaim the killing to be the fault of Craigslist and the professionals involved in the occupation of prostitution.

It was almost as if Mr. Markoff was secondary in the whole robbery and murder events.

Well, now that he has apparently committed suicide, people seem to, once again, be laying the blame for his actions on someone else.

This time, it is the fault of Nashua Street Jail.

Continue reading "Boston’s Sherriff’s Department Defends Against Blame And Investigates The Death Of Alleged Murderer Markoff" »

Homicide can occur during the most unlikely of events. As a Boston criminal defense attorney, not to mention a Brooklyn prosecutor, I have seen my fill of events in which people acted in ways that they admittedly should not have and were left with totally unexpected results.

Deadly results.

Here is a tragic example from this past weekend.

Hector G. of South Boston (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was in Lansdowne Pub on Lansdowne Street near Fenway Park. At the same time, Mike D., 23 from New York (hereinafter, the “Deceased”) was up from the Big Apple and visiting with some old college friends.

According to investigating officers, the Defendant became angry with a member of the Deceased’s group because of a brief “run in”.

And so it was that the Defendant did something stupid. He threw a beer mug at the Deceased’s table.

Continue reading "South Boston Man Faces Homicide Charges After Throwing Beer Mug; Needs Experienced Lawyer" »

The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog acknowledges that this was a bad weekend for Craigslist. Of course, some others would be quick to suggest it was a bad weekend for escorts. Let’s just say it was an eerily coincidental weekend for alleged criminals who prey upon Craigslist advertisers.

Remember the so-called “Craigslist Killer” from around a year ago? Well, before we hit the update on that particular gentleman, let’s discuss what may be his protégé…Luther H. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) a man from Brockton. He is accused of robbing a female (alleged) escort at gunpoint after arranging a meeting with her through Craigslist, a classified advertisement website.

Although arraigned on August 5th for the July 9th incident, the Defendant’s tale hit the list of the infamous this past weekend. Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz announced that the Defendant and his temporary ladyfriend had agreed to meet to exchange sexual services for pay at a “predetermined location”. Said location was apparently a vacant house.

At said house, the Defendant is said to have surprised the escort by what he pulled out. It was a gun. He then allegedly ordered her to strip and restrained her using zip-cuffs. Next, the Defendant asked his complainant-to-be what possessions she had for him to steal, to which she replied that her valuables were in her car.

According to Cruz, the Defendant stole the victim’s money, purse, laptop, and cellphone from her car.

Continue reading "A Boston Defense Attorney Discusses MA Tales Of Murder, Robbery And Craigslist" »

Christina H., 23, of Acton (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), was arraigned yesterday, beside her attorney, in connection with the death of her 13-month-year-old son. She pleaded not guilty to charges that she beat him to death inside her Great Road home this past May..

She was held without bail.

Prosecutors say that the Defendant called 911 around 4:30 a.m. on May 12th, 2010, and reported that her son had fallen out of the crib and hit his head. The child was taken from the Defendant’s home and rushed to Emerson Hospital in Concord. It was there that the child was pronounced dead at 5:17 a.m.

The boy's death has since been under investigation by Acton and State police, prosecutors say. Police learned that the night before he was killed, the boy was home with his mother and two-year-old sister.

"He appeared to be happy, healthy and playful. That night he had fed himself cheerios and drank a bottle before going to sleep at 8 p.m.,'' law enforcement has indicated. However, an autopsy found the child suffered "multiple contusions, lacerations, internal bleeding and hemorrhages on the top of his head.''

Continue reading "Acton MA Mother Charged With Homicide After Investigation Into Child’s Death " »

The Supreme Judicial Court has overturned Joann Sliech-Brodeur’s Massachusetts first-degree murder conviction. Sliech-Brodeur was convicted of killing her husband Joseph Brodeur, who was stabbed 34 times with a kitchen knife and may have sustained blunt force head trauma from a “pry bar” on July 28, 2004.

During Sliech-Brodeur’s criminal defense trial, the defense claimed that Sliech-Brodeur’s long-standing mental issues were made worse by Brodeur’s intentions to divorce her. A psychologist who testified on her behalf said that Sliech-Brodeur doesn’t remember stabbing her husband.

In February 2006, a jury rejected Sliech-Brodeur’s defense that she was not responsible for stabbing her husband because she was mentally ill. The then 61-year-old woman was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Now, however, the state’s highest court is saying that the discovery process that took place during the trial violated criminal procedure rules (including the state’s limitations on discovery in insanity cases) and prejudiced the West Springfield woman’s Massachusetts murder case. The court says that the psychiatric expert for the prosecution was given information he should not have obtained and that the defense should not have had to give prosecutors statements and notes she had made for her own psychiatric expert.

Finding that Sliech-Brodeur was “unconstitutionally forced to help the state convict her,” the court is ordering a new trial.

SJC overturns murder conviction for West Springfield woman, Boston.com, July 19, 2010

Mass. court orders new trial in husband’s death, Boston Herald, July 19, 2010

Woman guilty of first-degree murder in husband's death, Mass Live, February 24, 2006

Related Web Resources:
Murder, Cornell University Law School

General Laws of Massachusetts

Continue reading "Supreme Judicial Court Overturns Massachusetts Murder Conviction of West Springfield Widow " »

At his arraignment this month, Thomas J. Mortimer IV pleaded not guilty to four counts of Massachusetts first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife Laura Stone Mortimer, 2-year-old daughter Charlotte, 4-year-old son Thomas Mortimer V, and mother-in-law Ragna Ellen Stone. The 43-year-old Winchester software salesman was apprehended on June 17 close to the Vermont line after a driver that stopped to help him with his car on Route 10 recognized him and contacted the authorities.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Mortimer after the bodies were discovered in their home on June 16. Relatives reportedly had not been able to contact the family since June 14. Mortimer is accused of using “sharp objects” and “blunt force trauma” to kill the victims.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. says that Mortimer had left behind a note confessing to the murders while citing marital problems and financial issues. Mortimer is currently unemployed.

Mortimer’s Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer has said that the defendant’s mental health will be a factor in the case. She is seeking a psychiatric evaluation from Dr. Marc Whaley, a forensic psychiatrist, which indicates that she may make an insanity plea on Mortimer’s behalf. Mounting an insanity defense is an extensive process that can take over a year.

The charge of Massachusetts first-degree murder can refer to the premeditated and deliberate killing of another person, murdering someone while committing a capital felony, or the killing someone in an extremely cruel manner. A conviction for this crime can land a defendant in jail for life. This is not the type of case that you want to tackle without an experienced Boston homicide defense lawyer on your side.

Not-guilty plea in 4 Winchester deaths, Boston Globe, June 19, 2010

Four family members found dead in Winchester home, My Fox Buston, June 16, 2010

Related Web Resources:

Murder, Cornell Law School

The Insanity Defense, Washington Post

Continue reading "Winchester Man Pleads Guilty to Massachusetts First-Degree Murders of His Wife, Two Children, and Mother-in-Law" »

19-year-old Sherman Badgett is being held without bail. The Dorchester teenager has pleaded not guilty to charges of Massachusetts assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, first-degree murder, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Badgett is accused of fatally shooting Aaron Brown, also 19, on August 29, 2009 outside the Dorchester YMCA.

According to authorities Brown, Badgett, and Tyree Draughn, 18, became involved in dispute while at the YMCA dance. Draughn, who is charged with and has pleaded not guilty to the charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and accessory after the fact, allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at a group of people.

The teenagers were ordered to leave the YMCA and that was when Badgett allegedly pulled out a gun and fired three shots. One bullet struck a wall, another hit another victim’s ear, and the third one hit Brown. Badgett and Draughn were not apprehended until several month’s after Brown’s shooting death.

First-Degree Murder
First-degree murder is considered one of the most serious crimes and can come with a maximum lifetime prison sentence without the chance of parole. Bail is usually denied in these criminal cases.

Boston man pleads innocent to YMCA slaying, WHDH, June 15, 2010

Boston man pleads innocent to YMCA slaying, Boston Herald, June 15, 2010

Teen killed at YMCA dance, Boston.com, August 31, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts General Laws

Murder, First Degree, Lectlaw.com

Continue reading "Dorchester Teen Pleads Not Guilty to '09 Massachusetts Murder of Another Youth Outside YMCA " »

As a Boston-area criminal defense attorney, I face many “There but for the grace of G-d go I” moments. As I have often discussed in these postings, I am constantly presented with lives that have been ruined by very bad moments. Such moments can change an otherwise on-track life into something of a living nightmare. Some people choose such moments on a regular basis. For others, dealing with the debris of one such moment is enough to last a life-time.

Last week, I side-stepped one such moment.

I was appearing on a murder case at Suffolk Superior Court which involved a shooting. As it turned out, the next door session had a murder trial of its own in which the jury was deliberating. Ironically, the subject matter of that case was related to my case. I waited awhile in case the verdict came, but it did not.

It came the next day instead. I wasn’t there, but I learned in the papers that the verdicts were guilty. But, as it turned out, the verdicts were the least of the excitement the court experienced.

Moments after the defendants were denounced by the deceased’s family for their “animalistic’’ actions in a victim impact statement, the courtroom exploded into a melee between said victims and families of the four men convicted of murdering the 16-year-old on a Dorchester street in 2007.

After being given the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder (life with the possibility of parole after serving 15 years) one of the convicted lads protested his innocence,

The clerk then announced that the men were sentenced to prison for their “natural life.’’
One of the defendants’ relatives shouted out, “What do you mean ‘natural life?’ ’’

Continue reading "Assault And Disorderly Conduct Charges Result From Boston Courtroom Murder Trial Sentencing" »

Today is Memorial Day, a day in which we pause to remember the fallen. Generally, we remember those who have fallen in the armed services while they were defending and protecting our country from outside threats.

I would like to take a moment to remember another category of protectors and defenders. These people, however, guard against inside threats. They are involved daily in more local battles that end up being resolved in the trenches of the courtroom. The dangers they face, however, are very real.

Joseph Galapo had been an undercover police officer with whom I worked during my days as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, New York. At the time, I was in the narcotics bureau, happily indicting names I had been informed were the enemy in the “War Against Drugs”. That's all they were to me then…names. The police officers who were our witnesses, however, were human beings. We saw them on a regular basis. We got to know some of them beyond the badge and thin blue line. Joe was one such guy.

Shortly after the birth of his second child, he quit working undercover because of the obvious dangers. He began to work in a safer capacity…as a uniformed narcotics investigator.
Joe was thirty years old when he was shot and killed during what should have been a routine drug bust in a typical Brooklyn Street. In the chaos of an arrest, a partner’s gun was jolted and it discharged a bullet into Joe’s head.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney’s Take On Carnage Around The Justice System" »

There were a few fireworks yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Massachusetts. Attorneys argued over the topics of the defense attorney’s proposed summation. The Judge agreed with the Commonwealth and overruled the objections voiced by the defense.

The setting was Commonwealth v. John Odgren. The charge is Murder in the First Degree. We discussed this matter at the onset of the trial. Young Mr. Odgren, 19, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) now awaits a jury’s verdict in his stabbing of another youth to death in school.

The Defendant admitted to the stabbing. However, the defense is that he was not criminally responsible for the homicide because he was insane.

The debate was what the jury could be told about the result should they return a verdict that he was not guilty by reason of said insanity. The defense attorney wanted to be able to argue to the jury that, if they returned such a verdict, that the Defendant would not simply be freed to go out and kill again. This, of course, is a common misunderstanding of the law, and one that can cost a mentally handicapped person liberty-by way of state prison- for the rest of said person’s life.

Continue reading "Dilemma Of A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney In A Murder Trial" »

The prosecution rests in John Odgren’s Massachusetts murder trial. The 19-year-old Princeton resident fatally stabbed 15-year-old James F. Alenson, fellow student at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School on January 19, 2007. Odgren, who was 16 at the time of the fatal stabbing, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

While Odgren doesn’t deny stabbing Alenson, who he didn’t know and just happened to encounter in a boys’ bathroom that day, his criminal defense team is arguing that he cannot be held criminally responsible for his actions because he isn’t sane enough. Odgren’s Massachusetts murder attorney called him a “geeky” bully magnet who was ‘psychotic' and 'delusional' when he stabbed Alenson. One witness testified that on the day that the murder happened, Odgren had watched a violent video showing cartoon characters stabbing and shooting each other and that red blood blasted out of their injuries.

Odgren has a mild form of autism known as Asperger’s and suffers from depression. He also has developmental disabilities and is mentally ill. Bipolar disorder runs in the family. His mother has it. Four of his relatives ended up committing suicide.

Odgren randomly picked Alenson as his target on the day that he came to school with a butcher knife (a 12-inch knife with a near-8 inch blade). The 15-year-old freshman sustained multiple stab wounds, including wounds to the liver, lung, and heart, and defensive wounds. He died on the bathroom floor.

Jurors in Middlesex superior Court are tasked with deciding whether Odgren is guilty of murder or should be found not guilty due to lack of criminal responsibility. Prior to Alenson’s murder, Odgren had never been in trouble with the law. He was the one who was the target of ridicule and bullying by other kids.

Classmate: Odgren said ‘I'm not going to kill you’, Boston.com, April 14, 2010

Gruesome crime scene, painful death described in Odgren, Boston Herald, April 16, 2010

Prosecution Rests In Odgren Trial, WBZ, April 16, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Asperger's Disorder

Bipolar Disorder, National Institute of Mental Health

Continue reading "John Odgren’s Massachusetts Murder Trial is Underway " »

Last week, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog spent the week discussing the issue of bullying and the over-reactive indictments paraded before a hungry audience by a local district attorney.

Today, we return to high school. This time it is another high school though. The academic institution involved this time is the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. Yesterday, jury selection began in Woburn for the trial of John O., (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) who stands accused of stabbing a 15-year-old youth to death at the school. The Defendant was 16-years-old at the time.

The stabbing took place inside a high school bathroom in 2007.

The defense is not the typical “It wasn’t me” or, “It was self-defense”.

The defense is apparently that of diminished capacity. The Defendant was apparently a special education student who had been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, and attention deficit disorder. More specifically, the defense says that his mental status left him unable to conform to the societal rules of behavior, especially when considering committing violent acts.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Jury Being Selected In High School Murder Case " »

A judge has ruled that 12-year-old Jordan Brown will be tried as an adult for the first-degree murder of his dad’s pregnant fiancé. If convicted, he would be the youngest American to serve a lifetime in prison without parole.

Jordan is accused of using a .20-gauge shotgun to kill Kenzie Houk, who was 9-months pregnant in February 2009. She was sleeping when he shot her. Her unborn baby also did not survive the shooting.

Judge Dominick Motto called the incident an “execution-style killing.” He says his decision is based on the boy’s refusal to accept responsibility for what he did.

Jordan’s lawyers had requested that the murder case be moved to juvenile court. A psychologist for the defense had testified that the child was at “low-risk” for committing future violent acts.

Prosecutors say that Jordan killed his soon-to-be stepmother because he didn’t like the fact that he was asked to move out of his bedroom. His unborn half-brother was going to be named after his father.

Jordan’s murder trial could begin in May. The 12-year-old’s criminal defense lawyers are trying to decide whether to ask the judge to let them take the case to the state Supreme Court.

In Massachusetts, persons as young as 14 can be sentenced life in prison without parole if convicted for murder. In September 2009, up to 57 people that were also first-time offenders were serving these mandatory sentences in the state's prisons.

If your child has been charged with a crime, an experienced Boston juvenile crimes lawyer can fight to take the case to juvenile court where the penalties are less harsh. Human Rights Watch says that sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole is cruel and unfair. According scientific research, there are difference between adult and adolescent brains that explain why many teens often don’t comprehend the consequences of their actions.

Juvenile life-without-parole sentence too harsh, reports says, Boston.com, September 30, 2009

12-year-old boy to be tried as adult, UPI, March 30, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Juvenile Court Department, The Massachusetts Court System

The General Laws of Massachusetts

Continue reading "12-Year-Old Could Be Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole if Convicted of First-Degree Murder" »

Yesterday, a Plymouth County jury found Michael Riley, the 37-year-old dad of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley, guilty of her first-degree murder. He is sentenced to life in prison without parole. Per Massachusetts law, the verdict is going to be automatically appealed.

Michael and his wife Carolyn are accused of using psychotropic medication to control their three children. Carolyn, 35, was also charged with first-degree murder, but last month, a jury convicted her of second-degree murder.

Prosecutors accused the Rileys of making up their kids’ behavioral problems. They accused the couple of sedating their children so that they could receive benefits designated for families with disabled kids.

Rebecca and her 11-year-old and six-year-old siblings had all been diagnosed with hyperactivity and bipolar disorders. Tufts Medical Center doctor Kayoko Kifuji was the one who prescribed the strong psychiatric drugs to treat their conditions.

Rebecca had been on the drugs since she was 2. She died on December 13, 2006 from a medication overdose.

During Michael’s Plymouth County criminal trial, the South Shore dad was portrayed as a bully who was verbally and physically abusive. Prosecutors said that he would order his wife to sedate the children when he wanted them to be quiet.

However, at their respective criminal trials, the Rileys portrayed themselves as following Dr. Kifuji’s medical instructions. They blamed pneumonia, and not the medication, as the cause of Rebecca’s death. Also, Michael’s criminal defense lawyer said that his client is suffering from bipolar disorder and his only involvement with the drugs included driving the kids to doctor appointments and submitting Social Security disability benefits for his family.

Father guilty in girl’s fatal drugging, Boston.com, March 27, 2010

GUILTY: Michael Riley gets life without parole for killing 4-year-old daughter, Wicked Local, March 27, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Timeline: Rebecca Riley Murder Case, MyFox Boston

VIDEO: Riley guilty of second-degree murder in death of 4-year-old daughter, Patriot Ledger, February 9, 2010

Continue reading "Rebecca Riley’s Father is Convicted of Massachusetts First-Degree Murder" »

“Sam….what gives? You tell us that the next day’s Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog is going to be an unhappy one and then you disappear for the rest of the week? You call this “daily”???”

I know, I know…sorry about that. Sometimes my responsibilities to my clients necessitate my irregular definition of the term “daily”. But, late as it may be…here is the tragic story to which I referred.

It is the tale of Geoffrey W., 31, an MIT staffer from Malden (hereinafter, the “Defendant”).

Last week, the Defendant was arrested in connection with the death of his 6-month-old son, according to Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone. He stands charged with murder

Continue reading "Boston Baby’s Death Brings Murder Charges And Jail To Senior MIT Staffer" »

It would appear that the people of the Boston area dodged the proverbial bullet when Professor Amy Bishop (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) moved out of state. According to Alabama law enforcement, co-faculty members were not so lucky.

The Defendant stands accused at the moment of gunning down said members at a faculty meeting whereat it was revealed that she was not going to get tenure.

But her latest problems are not her first brushes with guns, assault and the law. In fact, the more the media dig into her past, the more is learned at how she allegedly skated by criminal prosecutions a number of times. Some such skating has left Massachusetts law enforcement officials scratching their heads.

For example, one of the first stories that were revealed were about the suspicions about her connection to an attempted bombing of a professor at Harvard when she worked there. She was apparently trying to become a famous scientist (see discovery of her book from Tuesday’s blog). Her supervisor was purportedly not pleased with her work. He received a bomb in the mail after an alleged dispute with her. Clearly, the federal officials did not believe there was enough to charge her and so nothing happened.

However, a cloud of mystery seems to have developed about that situation with her brother.

Continue reading "Boston Ghosts Of Criminal Past Continue To Haunt Prof. Amy Bishop, Now Accused Of Murders By Firearm" »

Amy Bishop Anderson, a University of Alabama biology professor, is charged with one count of capital murder in the deaths of two other professors and one professor’s assistant. Three other people, a staff member and two faculty members, were injured. The shooting happened on campus on Friday at around 4pm during a biology department meeting.

In 1986, Anderson, who has been employed at the University of Alabama since 2003, fatally shot her brother in Braintree, Massachusetts following what one police officer says was an argument. No charges were filed in what a police log lists as an accidental shooting.

Massachusetts Homicide Cases
While there is no death penalty in Massachusetts, there are serious penalties for those charged with homicide. The crime of murder in the first degree comes with a life prison sentence without parole—that is the maximum prison sentence allowed in the state. Other serious homicide charges include murder in the second degree, involuntary manslaughter, and voluntary manslaughter. In Massachusetts homicide cases, intent, motivation, and negligence are key factors in determining what charge to file against someone. This is not the kind of criminal case that you want to be a defendant of without having an experienced Boston homicide lawyer defending you and protecting your civil rights.

There are so many reasons why a person should be found not guilty of a crime. Your Boston criminal defense attorney can make sure that the right experts are retained and the proper evidence is presented in court to prove that you are not guilty. There may be reasons why lesser charges against you should be filed or why other charges should be dismissed.

Police: Alabama college shooting suspect killed her brother in 1986, CNN, February 14, 2010

Three killed in shooting at Alabama campus, Los Angeles Times, February 13, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Murders in Boston During 2010

Criminal Homicide, Justia

The Kerrigan family may have you alittle confused. The Boston Medical Examiner’s office says that the father (hereinafter, the “Deceased”) died because of an assault by the brother (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). The rest of the family is praising what a fantastic role model the Deceased was, but are standing by the Defendant. The District Attorney is trying to figure out what is the right move in the case.

Meanwhile, the superstar of the family, daughter of the Deceased and sister of the Defendant, former-Olympic but now-media star is publically vowing to fight the ruling that concluded her beloved father was murdered during a brawl with his son. In fact, in a long letter sent to friends that illustrated her adoration for the Deceased, Kerrigan yesterday defended the Defendant and called the state medical examiner’s ruling regarding the death “unjustified.”

The Defendant, meanwhile, remains at Bridgewater State Hospital, has pleaded not guilty to assault and battery on an elderly person,and wonders about his fate. Lord only knows what type of turmoil he is in.

“ ‘Turmoil’? But he is the Defendant! You mean he is afraid of what the punishment will be?”

No, actually, I meant what I wrote. Do you think there is very much the system can do to him that is not dwarfed by what he must be going through inside?

I have written many times about how media coverage and, indeed, fear of it often rules the criminal justice system. There is something else that plays a huge part in it and always has. Basic human emotion.

Continue reading "Attorney Sam’s Take: The Kerrigan Case – Boston’s Latest Confrontation Between Homicide Prosecution And Human Emotion" »