Massachusetts Dangerousness Hearings

A dangerousness hearing is an attempt by the prosecutor to hold you without bail as being a danger to the community. If you are charged with one of the following types of crimes, you could face a request for dangerousness often called a 58A detention on your first court date. If you are calling on behalf of someone else, here are the charges that we commonly see Dangerousness requests at DelSignore Law.

OUI 3rd offense or higher when the prior offenses are within 10 years;

1. Strangulation Charge
2. Assault and Battery Dangerous Weapon
3. Gun Possession Charges;
4. Drug Trafficking.

In many cases, if you were arrested and charged with a crime, you can expect to be released by (1) paying a monetary bail or (2) being released on personal recognizance- which is essentially a promise to the judge that you will return to court. However, if you were arrested for a third or subsequent OUI charge, a violent crime, or a felony offense, the Commonwealth may seek request pretrial detention. Attorney DelSignore will be prepared to object to any attempt to hold you and will propose alternatives to pretrial detention as the Commonwealth has the burden of proving that no condition of release will ensure the safety of the victim and or public. The presumption is in favor of being released on your promise to appear; a 58A is not designed to punish someone prior to trial for unproven allegations, but to ensure the safety of the public.

A dangerousness hearing is when the Commonwealth requests a judge to hold a defendant without bail for up to 120 days. Ultimately, it will be up to the Judge whether or not you will await your pretrial hearing behind bars. Factors the judge may consider include but are not limited to:

1. Seriousness of the crime and if you are a danger to the community
2. How strong your family ties are and what you do for work
3. Whether or not you have a history of mental illness
4. What your prior, if any, criminal record entails

The extent to which dangerousness hearings are used throughout Massachusetts varies from county to county. Dangerousness hearings are aggressively used in Bristol County. Additionally, many district attorneys will request dangerousness hearings on OUI offenses, above a 4th offense. The district attorneys in Newburyport will even request a dangerousness hearing on a 3rd offense OUI in many cases.

When a dangerousness hearing is requested, a defendant could be held for a period of time, between 3 to 7 days, pending the scheduling of the dangerousness hearing. A Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer can argue that the court should not even schedule the matter for a dangerousness hearing. Accordingly, it is important to hire an experienced Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer immediately to present being detained without bail.

Attorney DelSignore has extensive experience representing clients at dangerousness hearings and throughout the court process. Contact our office today to discuss your case and we can answer any outstanding questions you might have.

If you have been charged with OUI third offense, visit our website to learn more about how you can avoid jail time. You should know that it is possible, but there are a few prerequisites.