Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
In 2005 four men were stabbed in the Wonderland parking lot in Revere. The defendant Ervin Memushaj fled Massachusetts. The FBI was enlisted and a search led them to Chicago where Memushaj was located and arrested. This past Friday the defendant was returned to Massachusetts, arraigned and held on $250,000 cash bail, the amount requested by the prosecutor. While neither the district attorney’s press release nor the Lynn Item list the charges Memushaj faces it is likely that he was charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to murder or kill. All of these charges are felonies in Massachusetts.
According to the prosecution the victims were from Winthrop and Revere Massachusetts. All were males between the ages of 22 and 27. Apparently the stabbings stemmed from an earlier incident in Cambridge where Memushaj had thrown a bottle at one of the victim’s relatives. A confrontation ensued during which the defendant stabbed his first victim in the upper back, stomach and abdomen. The other men tried to intervene and in doing so each suffered stab wounds to the abdomens. A bloodstained knife was located at the scene. All four victims received medical care for their injuries.
See Lynn Item Online January 18, 2009
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Press Release, January 16, 2009
Let’s take a look at the potential charges. Assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon is a felony in Massachusetts. The statute proscribing such activity is Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 15A. Punishment can be up to 10 years in prison. The potential penalty increases by 5 years if the victim sustains serious bodily injury or is a pregnant woman or if the conduct is in violation of a 209A restraining order.
Assault with intent to murder is defined under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 18. There is a 20 year maximum prison sentence that can be imposed after a conviction of this offense. If the offense is committed with a firearm there is a 5 year mandatory prison sentence. Assault with intent to murder is very difficult to prove in Massachusetts. The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you assaulted the person and that you possessed a specific or actual intent to cause the death of the person assaulted.
Defending violent crimes in Massachusetts has been a staple of our practice since Stephen Neyman opened his offices. We have regularly defended people accused of murder, robbery, assault and battery, armed assault with intent to kill, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and much more. Keep in mind when reading newspaper accounts of arrests and criminal accusations that the full story is rarely reported. These stories are covered by the media when the incident first occurs and when it first gets into court. Good defense attorneys who put their client’s interests before their own will not disclose their defenses to the media anyone else at this stage of the proceedings. Rarely do I meet with a prospective client and learn that the media account is an accurate portrayal of the events. It is difficult to believe that the stabbings in this case took place as reported. I imagine Mr. Memushaj’s defense will shed an entirely different light on the events that occurred in 2005.
If you have been charged with a violent crime or any type of criminal offense in Massachusetts please contact Attorney Stephen Neyman now.