The conviction of a Massachusetts murder defendant was recently overturned by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, for a rather interesting reason. That reason centered on a suspect’s constitutional right to counsel while in police custody. The defendant, Jerome McNulty, was arrested by Salem police on the morning of March 29…
The suicide early Monday morning of accused “Craigslist Killer” Phillip Markoff forever ends any possibility of hearing from this man’s own mouth, the story of what brought death to a troubled young woman making her money as a prostitute, Julissa Brisman, and what brought down the life of a promising…
“Justice Delayed is Justice Denied” is generally speaking an accurate truism. But in some cases, not so. Legal events this past week in Falmouth District Court make clear that exception. Thirty years ago, in January of 1980, a woman by the name of Frances Carriere was found murdered in the…
Today, John Odgren’s defense lawyer rested his case in the murder trial of the now 19-year-old young man who is accused of fatally stabbing 15-year-old James Alenson in a bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury High School three years ago. As a Norfolk County Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer, I can assure you: Odgren’s…
It’s stories like today’s, which would make anyone outside of the profession of criminal law or law enforcement, pause to wonder what it is inside people that causes them to sometimes act the way they do. Not me. As a Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer, I’ve seen it all. Yet today’s…
As a Boston, Massachusetts criminal defense attorney, I’ve seen a lot of horrific crimes. Truly, shocking acts. But what was discovered in Worcester this past few days, would leave anyone stunned beyond words: Not only was a 23 year-old woman found murdered in her apartment, but the 8 month-old fetus…
Readers of my blog know that I’ve posted previously on the horrific story of the beating death of young Nathaniel Turner, a 7 year-old boy from Alabama that came to live with his biological father, Leslie G. Schuler, near Worcester, for the summer. On June 21 2009 – Father’s Day…
How I wish I could write more of positive news in this blog. Unfortunately, as my law school professors used to tell me, “It’s bad cases that make good law.” Along those lines, this next case illustrates the definition of murder in Massachusetts, and when someone is “dead.” Nathaniel Turner…
In my previous post on this subject, I discussed how circumstantial evidence obtained by police can still be used to charge a suspect with murder, even though there are no direct eyewitnesses to the killing. But why is the charge “murder” here, and not something lesser? Technically, Markoff is being…
In the past ten days or so, I’ve been asked by more than one person why accused “Craigslist Killer” Phillip Markoff has been charged with murder, and not a lesser crime, since there are not currently any witnesses who say they actually saw what happened. The formal charges against Markoff…