Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

The Massachusetts Supreme Court will soon decide the case of Commonwealth v. Dayton, which raises the issue of whether an individual charged with an OUI third offense can be held as a danger to the community. The dangerousness statute of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 58a, provides that a defendant can…

The Massachusetts SJC decided an important case for Massachusetts OUI Lawyers today.  The SJC held in Commonwealth v. Morgan that the Valor Act permits a judge to dismiss a first or second offense OUI over the Commonwealth’s objection.  The SJC held that the wording of the statute did not exclude…

Aaron Hernandez was found not guilty of a double murder from 2012 in Boston.  The key piece of evidence leading to the not guilty verdict was that Alexander Bradley the only one directly linking Hernandez to the murder could not be trusted.  There was evidence that he was lying, manipulative,…

The Cross Examination of Alexander Bradley had many points where as a criminal defense lawyer I intend to borrow from Attorney Baez’s style.  This was a perfect example of a cross examination of a confrontational and difficult witness who would not want to concede anything to the defense.  While at…

It was a partial victory for Massachusetts OUI Lawyers as the judge overseeing the Stateside breath test litigation, ruled that the breath results shall be excluded if the machine was calibrated prior to September 14, 2014, based on lack of standards and procedures for conducting the annual certification.  The Judge…

The Orlando shooter’s widow, Noor Salman was denied bail pending her upcoming trial. Often, in a serious case involving death, a defendant will be held without bail as the Court concludes no amount of money will ensure the person’s appearance in court.  Since bail is not meant to punish someone…

Recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court addressed a plan to handle the numerous potentially-tainted drug cases that are a result of Annie Dookhans mishandling of evidence. Originally, there were several indications that the criminal justice system would adopt a blanket approach to handling the cases; many people called for complete and utter…

When a person is pulled over and ultimately arrested for a drunk driving called OUI in Massachusetts and DUI in most parts of the country, most people would inherently draw a link between drinking and driving. Teenagers, especially, are quick to be stereotyped and labeled for this “behavior”.  What if…

Back in November of 2016, Massachusetts voters ultimately voiced their opinion and voted for the legalization of recreational marijuana. Supporters of such legalization have argued that the new law would take marijuana out of the ‘black market’ and would be subjected to applicable tax; marijuana would produce tax dollars for…

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard oral argument in the case of Commonwealth v. Thomas Gerhardt raising the issue of whether field sobriety tests should be admissible for an OUI marijuana arrest. While it is difficulty to predict how judges will decide from questions, here are my thoughts. The Justice…