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Knowing that I’m a criminal defense attorney, a lot of people have approached me lately and expressed shock that Massachusetts murder suspect Jeffrey Yao could slip through the law enforcement and judicial cracks that he slipped through, given the extensive history of worrisome reports and complaints about his strange behavior that were reported to authorities by both Winchester High School students and adult residents of the Winchester neighborhood were he lived. These reports of his bizarre behavior reportedly spanned six years. By now millions across the country know this horrific story: That on Saturday, February 24, Yao walked casually into a public library in the small Massachusetts town of Winchester, carrying a ten inch hunting knife, and stabbed a young medical student by the name of Deane Kenny Stryker, to death. He stabbed her at least 20 times; when she finally fell to the floor, the hunting knife was still in her neck.

This is a scene out of a “Friday the 13th” film. It is beyond comprehension. Continue reading

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Attorney General Maura Healey announced yesterday that a massive statewide fentanyl bust on Thursday, yielding 77 pounds of other drugs, including heroin, cocaine and opiate tablets, as well as $300,000 in cash. Law enforcement officials claimed that enough fentanyl was seized to possibly kill every person in Massachusetts. A dramatic description, for certain.

The six-month wiretap operation, conducted by a joint task force of federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents, the Massachusetts AG’s office, Boston police and other law enforcement agencies, resulted in the seizure of the drugs and the arrest of 37 separate suspects, including the alleged local kingpin, Robert Contreras of Roxbury. Contreras has been ordered held on $1 million bail on felony drug charges. The Boston Herald, quoting prosecutors, reported that evidence indicates that Contreras’ organization would receive the drugs from a much larger wholesaler, Mexico’s brutal Sinaloa cartel, them distribute them to lieutenants throughout the region, who would then supply lower-level dealers to addicts. Continue reading

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In my previous two posts on this topic, I discussed how seemingly every day, more and more accusations of sexual “assault” are being leveled at people in public life (as well as private.) Many of these events are reported to be years, if not decades, old, and reflect highly questionable allegations.  Worse, it has been observed by more than one responsible journalist that if anyone dares to question the veracity of an accuser, or seeks to merely provide context to these accusations, that person is savagely attacked in the public square: Pilloried for having the audacity to inject perspective into this latest “debate” within a society that is addicted to controversy – the “Rage of the Day” or Crisis du Jour.”

Exhibit ‘A’ on this point: Actor Matt Damon. Damon had the utter audacity to opine in a recent interview that there are major differences between touching someone’s buttocks, and rape or attempted rape. Obviously, he was not speaking as an attorney because he isn’t one – and to me as a Massachusetts sex charges attorney, that made his comments all the more valuable, because he was commenting from a common-sense perspective. Damon wasn’t speaking from political correctness – and that what is made his comments so important. He noted how, prior to this current, frenzied climate of accusations of sexual assault, reason and probity would have otherwise prevailed – reason and probity that are now all but gone. He urged a return to healthy skepticism and careful investigation of such accusations, while not losing sight of needed context. Continue reading

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In my previous post on this important subject, I talked about the literal explosion recently, in accusations and allegations of “sexual assault” being made against a wide variety of individuals – against the famous and anonymous alike.  I’m writing about this because I’ve been receiving a considerable number of phone calls recently – from both men and women alike – worried that they, too, might be accused of “sexual assault” – for the most minor of events.  For things that, frankly, strain belief that someone would make such a serious allegation.

This explosion of “sexual assault” allegations have followed the ‘shocking’ news that a physically unattractive Hollywood producer – Harvey Weinstein – had a “casting couch,” and pressured certain actresses for sex if they wanted to appear in his films.  To begin with, to my knowledge, the actions that Weinstein are reported to have engaged in – pressuring actresses to socialize with him and/or have sex with him if they wanted to see their careers advance in the film industry – can indeed be classified as boorish and tasteless.  If the allegations are true, Weinstein can indeed be called a social loser for having to resort to economic and career pressure to obtain sex.  But such suggestions by do not legally constitute “sexual assault.”  Far less do they constitute “rape.” Continue reading

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A person would have to live under a rock not to know of the tsunami of sexual assault allegations that have rolled across the U.S. in the past few weeks, following the revelations of sexual assault allegations made against famous Hollywood figures such as film producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey.  These accusations started in Hollywood, but have in the past few weeks spread to almost every corner of American society – from producers, directors and actors to CEO’s, politicians and civic leaders, corporations, non-profits and academic institutions.

While I am sure that a substantial number of these allegations of sexual assault are true, people need to remember that sexual assault accusations are some of the easiest to manufacture or use as leverage against another person.  This can be done for a variety of reasons – most commonly financial leverage, revenge against a relationship gone bad, jealousy and other reasons.  What concerns me about the current social environment is the veritable explosion of these accusations, seemingly arising from every corner of American society, since the Harvey Weinstein revelations.  It seems that countless individuals from every corner of society are now screaming “Me Too” – claiming that they were “victims” of “sexual assault.”  I showed my wife a picture I saw on Facebook recently of a group of women all holding “Me Too” signs – each one of them smiling ear to ear, as though they had just one some kind of award.  What’s wrong with this picture — in general?   These are victims of “sexual assault”? Continue reading

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Many clients have asked me whether they can or should seal a criminal record that they have.  While people who have a criminal record might think that sealing that record (if possible) is a no-brainer, it’s not so cut-and-dried.  This question is becoming especially popular now that legislation is being weighed at the State House, about reducing the periods of time that persons who have a criminal record have to wait before they can request that those record(s) be sealed.

Almost anyone who has been arrested or arraigned on criminal charges in Massachusetts, even when a case is dismissed or results in  a “Not Guilty” verdict, generates a CORI report (criminal offender record information.)  Having such a record can often make it difficult for such people to find housing or employment. Continue reading

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Here’s a very interesting hypothetical legal question:  Let’s assume that “Dave Defendant” is convicted of a certain crime – whether a misdemeanor or felony –and is sentenced to probation.  Part of his probation terms require that he remain drug-free, and submit to random drug tests administered by the Department of Probation.

One day, Dave Defendant’s drug tests come back positive for a controlled substance.  His probation officer brings Defendant back before a judge, for what’s known as a “probation violation” hearing. The judge finds that Defendant had indeed tested positive for prohibited drugs, which means that Defendant violated the terms of his probation – which authorizes the judge to sentence Defendant to jail.  Should this be done – should such a person be sentenced to jail for relapsing during drug recovery? Continue reading

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Like an unusually large wave that occasionally hits the shore, every few years there is a swell on Beacon Hill to “reform” something. Back in the 1990’s, get-tough-on-crime advocates successfully passed legislative “crack-down” amendments to many criminal law statutes, several of them requiring mandatory minimum sentences for a variety of crimes – mostly Massachusetts drug offenses.  As a Massachusetts drug offenses lawyer, I can assure you that this approach produced some pretty awful legal results in courtrooms across the state – tying judges’ hands any time that a guilty verdict was returned by a jury on often victim-less, relatively minor drug charges.

Now, a backlash of sorts has hit Beacon Hill – in the current wave to reform many elements of the criminal justice system in Massachusetts.  The overall thrust of this effort, its sponsors say, is to reduce the numbers of people that are caught up in the criminal courts here.  In the process, the bill has sparked a lot of debate, and criticism as well. I’ll list out the major suggested changes below, with some brief commentary:

  • Current mandatory minimum sentences for several drug offenses — including cocaine distribution and selling drugs inside 300 feet of a school — would be repealed. Mandatory minimum sentences require judges to sentence anyone found guilty of certain crimes, many of which are various drug offenses, to a minimum jail or prison time, with no chance of parole. This would give back to judges the wider discretion they once had in these cases, and as anyone who knows me is aware, that’s a good thing.  As I’ve spoken of and written previously, mandatory minimum sentences do little if anything to prevent crime, and just fill our prisons up with low-level drug offenders, instead of reserving space for violent criminals. Notwithstanding, the senate’s bill would retain mandatory minimum sentences for defendants convicted of dealing the largest amounts of illegal drugs – usually, over 100 grams of cocaine or heroin. Any drug trafficking charges involving opioids would also trigger mandatory minimums.
Continue reading

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Whether and what kind of sobriety tests would be allowed in court to prosecute drivers suspected of operating while under the influence of marijuana, was a question just waiting to be answered from the moment pot was legalized in Massachusetts – whether for medical or recreational use.  Well, the legal community now has the first such indication of those legal boundaries.

In a decision released just two days ago, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) unanimously restricted the ability of police officers to testify as to their own, subjective opinions of whether or not a given suspect was driving under the influence of pot.  Before going further, some quick contrast is needed here to explain what evidence is allowed in Massachusetts OUI/DUI alcohol cases:  In traditional DUI arrests, officers typically require the driver to perform what are called Field Sobriety Tests (“FST’s”), which consist of various tests such as walking heel-to-toe, reciting the alphabet, standing on one leg, and an additional test known as a Horizontal gaze nystagmus test, which measures the responsiveness of the eyes to a moving object such as a pen.  All of these are scientifically accepted indicators of alcohol intoxication.  If a suspect fails those tests, an officer may testify in court that the defendant failed the tests.  However, in this important decision, the court ruled that, due to the fact that there is as of present date no scientific consensus that these Roadside Sobriety Tests can definitively prove that a person is intoxicated by marijuana, the court limited what an officer can testify to on the stand. Continue reading

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As I’ve said many times, people often ask me how I can defend certain types of clients accused of crimes such as, for example, drunk driving or sex offenses.  And I give them the same answer, every time:  “Because my client might be innocent.”

Just yesterday, (August 23 2017,) the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, the statewide association representing the 14 county-based District Attorneys Offices across Massachusetts, announced that until further notice, their prosecutors would no longer use alcohol breathalyzer tests (“breath tests”) in current or future Massachusetts OUI/DUI cases.  Why?  That’s where, as a Boston and Wrentham Massachusetts OUI defense attorney, my constant answer above, becomes “Exhibit ‘A’”. Continue reading