Attorney Sam Greets MA Students With News Of Murder, Robbery, Bullying And Prostitution

Welcome back everybody! I hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend. A particular welcome back to the student’s returning to schools in the Boston area. As you kids may have heard, and I will discuss in more detail tomorrow, there are new laws and procedures in place to deal with the problem of bullying. Be careful…certain overzealous (to be generous) criminal justice politicians have indicted kids for that. In the meantime, let me give you an idea of what else is going on in the criminal justice atmosphere.

You may have heard that Boston has been in an uproar over the murder of a pizza delivery man last week. Well, it would appear that the suspects turn out to be, perhaps, around your age. Two Boston high school students and a 20-year-old have been charged with the murder in which the driver was viciously stabbed to death. According to authorities, they then fled in his car.

The apparent prize for the young alleged killers? The theft of around $100 and a box of pizza.

So, you might want to be careful in terms of part-time jobs you seek to help pay for school…especially you college kids.

Of course, you kids should also be careful wherever you go here in the Commonwealth. I know that kids like to enjoy the nice weather, walking around at night, but you may wish to reconsider this activity. You see, this past weekend, a 21 year old Stoneham gentleman was shot on a street corner in Malden.

The 21 year-old man was pronounced dead after police arrived at the scene just after 12:30 a.m, according to a press release from Malden Police.

This crime seems to remain unsolved. Residents of the area can only describe that they heard the shots and found the man dead.

Police say that the incident was isolated and does not appear to be random, according to Malden Police..

Of course, even younger kids in the Boston-area seem to be in danger. Take, for example, the case of an 8 year-old girl who was shot this weekend in Dorchester.

Actually, it was the little girl as well as her mother who were hit by a stray bullet while sitting on their porch in their backyard on Oakwood Street in Dorchester.

Police said a suspect was chasing two other men and shooting at them when a bullet ricocheted off a metal grill, grazing the mother and striking the daughter in the back of her leg at 6:19 p.m.

The suspects, again, remain unknown.

Other than that, there were at least two other homicides in the Commonwealth this past weekend. Gee, wasn’t it only this past Saturday that we explained that the homicide listing was already higher than last year?

Well, my aim was not to scare you kids and your parents away from the Commonwealth. Let me now give you the good news.

Our Attorney General, Martha Coakley, is celebrating, with “guarded optimism” to a real law enforcement triumph.

You may have heard about the Craigslist Killer (hereinafter, the “CK Killer”. He was a gentleman who murdered and robbed escorts whom he had contacted by way of sexually-related section of Craigs List. At around the time that the news carried a second Craigs List Robber, the original CK Killer killed himself, thus robbing the Commonwealth from a well publicized trial.

Quite clearly, both alleged CK criminals, as well as their deeds, were the fault of both Craigslist and the sex industry.

Well, after well-publicized pounding, Craigslist has declared that it will block the adult services section on the web site.

Now, don’t get too excited. As AG Coakley has indicated, “What today’s action means, I think, remains to be seen.” In an abundance of prosecutorial concern, AG Coakley still plans to begin hearings this fall to gather evidence for an initiative to change the federal statute shielding Craigslist and other sites from liability connected to violence stemming from an adult services ad.

Coakley indicates that shutting down adult services on the site should help shine a light on the anonymous connections that allow crimes to be committed, such as the April 2009 slaying of a 25-year-old masseuse by the CK Killer.

So, while there may be people of all ages being assaulted and killed, along with other such meaningless crimes, their assailants unapprehended, the good news is that our criminal justice leaders still have a fantastic perspective and things, in terms of law and order, are great.

Especially since bullying is a thing of the past given the newly passed statute proclaiming the fourth Wednesday in January “No Name Calling Day”.

Attorney Sam’s Take:

Well, it is time for kids of all ages to learn the art of sarcasm in case they missed it above.

Believe it or not, however, this is not simply a rant on my part. It is an honest warning from someone who has been intimately involved in the criminal justice system for over a quarter of a century, having served in two states and on both sides of the aisle.

I have had many clients, juvenile and adult, who figured that their little acts of indiscretions were so small in stature they would beneath the notice of law enforcement.

This is how they became my clients.

One never knows what “crime of the day” will become a lightning rod for publicity. The sad fact is that publicity guides criminal prosecutions to a great extent.

As I have pointed out in the past, and will tomorrow when I talk more about bullying, logic and your sense of morality cannot be counted on to exist once the finger of accusation is pointed at you.

This is why my regular advice in this daily criminal law blog is the same. Do not expect you can handle ongoing investigations into your conduct on your own. Hire an expert to guide and advise you.

And represent you should investigation turn into a criminal complaint or indictment.

Should you wish to discuss such a matter with me, please feel free to call me to arrange a free initial consultation at 617-492-3000.

For the original stories upon which today’s blog is based, please go to http://mobile.boston.com/art/30/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/05/police_allege_deliveryman_was_killed_for_100_pizza/, http://mobile.boston.com/art/34/news/local/breaking_news/2010/09/stoneham_man_21, http://mobile.boston.com/art/30/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/05/girl_8_shot_in_dorchester/ and http://mobile.boston.com/art/30/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/05/craigslist_adult_services_section_blocked/

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