Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

The 10-part Netflix documentary series that has captured the nation and has made headlines over the past year has more recently taken a new turn. Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey, most famously known for being found guilty of the murder of Teresa Halbach, may have a second chance…

In a decision that could impact Aaron Harnandez’s upcoming murder trial in February, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that his lawyers can be compelled to provide his phone to the Commonwealth pursuant to an anticipatory search warrant. Interpreting the statute governing search warrants General Laws 276 Section 1,…

When is a person being investigated of a crime entitled to a lawyer? The determination of whether someone being accused of a crime is entitled to a lawyer depends on whether the court determine that the prosecution is at a critical stage in the process. The United States Supreme Court…

This summer has seen a high number of cases involving young children dying after being left in hot cars. In a recent highly publicized case out Georgia, a father was charged with the involuntary manslaughter of his twin one-and-a-half-year-old daughters after it was discovered that he left the children in…

Up to 1000 DUI cases in Philadelphia may be impacted by a faulty breath test machine that was not properly calibrated.  What happened in Philadelphia is that an expired solution was used to calibrate the breath test machine.  This error was discovered by a DUI Lawyer likely in preparing one…

The Massachusetts SJC rule on July 1, 2016 that a juvenile can be required to stand trial as an adult for involuntary manslaughter in a case that has drawn national attention, as the juvenile defendant is charged with encouraging another juvenile to commit suicide through text messages.  Text messages were…

A New York woman was not read her Miranda rights prior to a 45 minute, unrecorded interview with police after her husband’s kayak capsized in the Hudson river, resulting in his death.  A police investigator claims that Angelika Graswald told him that she took her fiance’s paddle after he capsized…

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that states cannot make it a crime for a drunken driving suspect to refuse to take a blood test but can criminalize the refusal to take breath tests to determine alcohol levels.  The ruling will affect laws in 11 states.  The justices ruled…

The Statewide challenge to the accuracy of the breath test machine used in Massachusetts took a positive turn for the defense with a ruling from Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Botsford. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that defendants in a set of cases should be provided access to breathalyzer instruments…

The Connecticut State Supreme Court has upheld the abolishment of the death penalty, including for death-row inmates in the re-examination of the case of State v. Santiago.  Last August, the Court held that the death penalty was unconstitutional following the legislature’s abolition of capital punishment three years ago. The legislature…