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Last year a thirty two year old woman was sexually assaulted three times by the same man. On one occasion the man grabbed her while she was walking in Wollaston. On two occasions the man rubbed up against her in an inappropriate and lewd manner while riding on an MBTA train. Just yesterday the woman saw the man at a T station in Quincy, Massachusetts. She immediately contacted the police who arrested the man, later identified as twenty five year old Jose Valasquez of East Boston. Valasquez has been charged with criminal harassment and indecent assault and battery in the Quincy District Court.

Read Article: Woman identifies man who sexually assaulted her one year ago

Indecent assault and battery is a felony in Massachusetts. The law defining this offense is Massachusetts General Law Chapter 265 Section 13H. The law states that anyone found guilty of this offense faces a potential five year state prison sentence. To prove this crime the district attorney must show that the defendant engaged in conduct fundamentally offensive to contemporary moral values. The article makes no to the acts that Valasquez purportedly committed.

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Remember Joseph Houston? He is the former Brewster, Massachusetts police officer who got kicked out of a Metallica concert for peeing on concertgoers and then tried to get back in the concert by flashing his badge. His case is now over and it worked out great for him. He can thank a great criminal defense lawyer, a compassionate district attorney and a judge who simply “gets it”. According to reports, Houston will have to pay restitution in the amount of $2,632 to his victims and undergo alcohol counseling. If he does so and stays out of trouble for the next eighteen months his charges of assault and battery, trespassing and open and gross lewdness will be dismissed. The disposition or resolution of the case was accomplished by continuing the case without a finding.

Read Article: Charges Against Cop Who Urinated On Concert Fans To Be Dismissed

So what exactly is a continuance without a finding? In Massachusetts cases are often resolved in a manner whereby the defendant will have to adhere to certain conditions of probation however once he successfully completes those obligations the case will be dismissed on a designated date. In essence, the defendant is punished for the crime but he will not have a criminal record to show for it. The statute governing this rule is Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 278 Section 18. For years it was believed that this statute applied only to cases prosecuted in the District Courts. As recently as March of 2009 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided that continuances without a finding (CWOF’s) could be entered by judges in the Superior Court.

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David Dunbar is a level three sex offender according to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board. He was convicted in 2000 of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen. He has recently been living in a homeless shelter in Quincy. Just the other day however Dunbar removed the screen on a woman’s apartment entered the apartment and purportedly committed some additional serious crimes. He is now facing charges in the Quincy District Court for assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, malicious destruction to property and home invasion. He is being held on $350,000 bail.

Read Article, Boston Herald, April 7, 2009

The home invasion charge is the most serious crime that Dunbar is accused of committing. It is a violent crime proscribed by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 18C. To be convicted of this crime the district attorney must prove that the defendant broke into someone’s home, knowing or having reason to know that they were home, while armed with a dangerous weapon and having used force or threats on the home’s occupant. A conviction of home invasion carries a twenty year minimum state prison sentence. The article stated that Dunbar was carrying a box cutter when he entered the home. That is sufficient to satisfy the element of “dangerous weapon”.

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Coop’s Bar and Grill in Quincy, Massachusetts was the wrong place for a twenty five year old Weymouth woman to spend her Saturday night. Around 11:45 p.m. as the victim was leaving the bar a group of teenagers began yelling obscenities at her. The woman confronted group. She was then assaulted, beaten and her pocketbook was taken from her. She ended up in Massachusetts General Hospital with “serious facial injuries”. The woman was eventually able to identify two of three assailants, Erin Buckley and Leah Coyne, both of Weymouth. Another suspect was observed with Coyne going through a pocketbook behind a home. Both Buckley and Coyne were charged with robbery and aggravated assault and battery. The third person, Shane Ferguson was charged with being a accessory after the fact.

Read Article: Robbery Charges For Girls Who Attacked Woman In Quincy

If these charges are prosecuted as currently issued the case will be indicted to the Norfolk County Superior Court. The most serious charge Buckley and Coyne face is the robbery charge. In Massachusetts robbery is a life felony whether committed by someone armed or unarmed. The aggravated assault and battery is also a felony and carries up to five years in state prison. If the injuries are not as severe as reported and Buckley and Coyne do not have criminal records I would not be surprised to see these cases remain in the Quincy District Court where the maximum the defendants face is two and one half years in the house of correction.

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According to the Boston Globe, Wellesley Massachusetts native Margaret Greer’s simple task of picking her husband up at Logan Airport turned ugly when she refused to move her Mercedes Benz from the bus lane. The Globe reported that Greer was told to move along as she waited for her husband at Logan Airport. Police say that she did not go quietly and ended up in East Boston District Court charged with assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and failing to stop for a police officer.

Sergeant Danial Wildgrube approached Greer’s car and told her she would have to move because she was obstructing traffic in a bus lane. According to Wildgrube after he made that request, Greer ignored him. A confrontation ensued where the police claim that Greer gunned her engine and sped off, clipping him with her side mirror and forcing him to leap out of the way.

Greer’s account of the events is at odds with that of the police. At her arraignment, her attorney entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf. A preliminary hearing is set for May 13th. Greer’s attorney maintained that she is, “. . . a highly respected member of the community and has pled not guilty to all allegations,” The attorney maintained that, “There are two sides to every story, and we strongly contest the facts as presented by the Commonwealth and look forward to presenting our side of the story. It’s very upsetting and traumatizing to her. . . . Anyone who has picked up or dropped off anyone at the airport may understand there’s two sides to the story.” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said: “If a trooper asks you to move your car from a bus lane, you do it. . . . The trooper gave her every opportunity to do the right thing and she blew it. Now she’s looking at a felony charge.”

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According to reports, this past Sunday Margaret Greer was in her car at Boston’s Logan Airport when a state trooper asked her to move her vehicle. Greer explained to the trooper that she was waiting for her husband. She was given the option of circling the terminal or parking in a nearby cell phone lot. She chose neither and supposedly struck the officer with her mirror when trying to drive past him. Following that Greer tried to again hit the officer with her car while he was trying to undue her seatbelt to possibly apprehend her. Greer fled and was arrested on the Massachusetts Turnpike shortly afterwards. Now apparently someone working on Greer’s behalf is using Craigslist to find witnesses who saw the incident and are able to corroborate Greer’s version of the events. The message was posted just hours after Greer’s release from custody.

Greer has been charged in the East Boston District Court with assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and failure to stop for a police officer.

Read Articles: Wellesley Woman Accused Of Striking Trooper With SUV; Portfolio Manager Charged With Crimes Of Violence; Merrill Lynch Executive Using Craigslist To Find Witnesses

So what is the most serious charge here? The assault and battery by with a dangerous weapon. This is a crime under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 15A. Under this case scenario a motor vehicle can constitute a dangerous weapon. A conviction for this crime can result in a state prison sentence of up to ten years if the case is indicted. If this case is kept in the District Court the maximum penalty is two and one half years in the house of correction. My guess is that this case will be continued without a finding and Greer might have to undergo some sort of counseling for anger.

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In a unanimous decision five justices on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed an Appeals Court decision pertaining to probation violaton/revocation matters. See Commonwealth v. Ruiz, Slip Opinion March 31, 2009. In Ruiz the Court found the following facts:

Stemming from two incidents of domestic violence Ruiz pleaded guilty to seven separate crimes in the Superior Court. One count required that Ruiz serve five to five and one half years in state prison. On the remaining cases Ruiz was sentenced to probation to commence from and after (consecutive) the period of incarceration. The probationary period was for three years with one of the conditions being that Ruiz not contact the victim either directly or indirectly. The sentence imposed was at the request of both the district attorney and the defense. During the period of incarceration Ruiz wrote letters to the victim. A probation surrender hearing was scheduled. The judge found that Ruiz had violated the terms of his probation by contacting the victim through the letters. He imposed and additional sentence of one year to one year. Ruiz appealed from the ruling. The Appeals Court affirmed and the Supreme Judicial Court accepted review of the case and reversed.

Typically probation commences once the defendant is released from incarceration. A defendant can be sentenced to probation concurrent with his committed sentence. However a sentence imposing both incarceration and probation concurrent with the incarceration is not common. Such a sentence might be imposed where there is a concern that the defendant will cause trouble during the period of incarceration. This case makes clear however that any condition of probation imposed concurrently with a committed sentence must be clear on the record and the defendant must have notice of that condition.

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Andrew Yuen was working the counter at Holbrook Liquors Friday night when a man came who in wearing a ski mask started demanding lottery tickets. Yuen raised his hands in submission and invited the man behind the counter to take the money from the register. Yuen then seized an opportunity to push the gun away and with the help of another store employee subdued the man and called the police. Police officers arrived and arrested Richard Hall of Holbrook. Hall was a regular at the store and had been there four hours earlier that evening. Authorities charged Hall with armed robbery while masked, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, armed assault with the intent to rob and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Bail was set at five thousand dollars cash in the Quincy District Court.

Read Article: Liquor store employees subdue robber

The crime of armed robbery in Massachusetts is governed by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 17. A conviction of armed robbery carries a potential life sentence. If however the person who committed the crime was masked there is a minimum five year state prison sentence that must be imposed.

Defending this case will be a difficult undertaking. The report makes clear that in addition to the two store employees there were two girls at the counter whom Yuen was assisting when Hall entered the store. If their version of the events supports that of the store employees Hall’s chance of success after trial is minimal at best. Look for him to enter into some sort of plea bargain where he might be able to get around the five year minimum sentence he now faces.

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A one month long investigation into cocaine dealing in Malden and Everett resulted in the arrest of three locals. According to reports Jennifer Verderber, 21, of Medford George Graef, 33, and John Mazzeo, 27, both of Everett, have been charged with various drug crimes. It is alleged that Mazzeo and Verderber drove to the other defendant’s home and obtained from him a package containing cocaine. The two were followed and seen engaging a a drug transaction after which they were arrested. Police then went back to Graef’s home where they located and seized sixty grams of cocaine, nearly three thousand dollars cash, drug paraphernalia and scales. Graef was also arrested and charged with drug crimes. Charges are now pending in the Malden District Court.

Read Article: Three Getting Arraigned On Cocaine Charges In Malden District Court

The most serious charge all three might be facing is trafficking cocaine in excess of twenty eight grams, a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 94C Section 32E. The district courts in Massachusetts do not have jurisdiction over trafficking cases so the matter will likely be prosecuted in the Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn. There is a five year minimum mandatory sentence for anyone convicted of that crime. Based on the article, this case presents some interesting issues involving search and seizure law. Questions that come to mind are 1) did the police utilize and informant in this case, 2) to whom did Verderber and Mazzeo distribute drugs and what is that person’s role in this investigation, if any, 3) what probable cause did the police have to enter Graeff’s house, or how did they in fact gain entry. All three of these defendants might have some very strong defenses to these charges.

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Several weeks ago DEA and Andover, Massachusetts police received information from a source that Jay Keough and Ryan Emmet were cooking up methamphetamine at Keough’s parents’ home on Lowell Street in Andover. Apparently Keough and Emmett had been buying cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine from drug stores in the Merrimack Valley towns of Andover, Methuen, North Andover, Lawrence and Haverhill. Various “cooking” techniques break the medicine down into ephedrine which in turn is used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine or “crystal meth”. According to reports Keough manufactured the substance every 4-5 days in a first floor room that was locked, chained and guarded by a Rottweiller. Both Keough and Emmet were charged in federal court with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Both men are being detained pending a hearing.

Read Article: Massachusetts Men Caught In Their Andover Meth Lab Charged In Federal Court

Both defendants have been charged with a violation of 21 U.S.C. Section 846 and 21 U.S.C. Section 841(a)(1). 21 U.S.C. 846 makes it a crime to conspire to violate any of the laws of the drug abuse prevention and control act. 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) makes it a crime to manufacture, distribute or possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance. Methamphetamine is a controlled substance in accordance with Schedule II of the act. If convicted on these charges, Keough and Emmet each face up to 20 years imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release and a $ 1,000,000 fine.

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