The Sixth Amendment and the Right to a Jury Trial The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that a criminal defendant has the right to a trial by jury. In Massachusetts, this right may be waived by the…
Read More
When a vehicle is stopped by police for an observed traffic violation in Massachusetts, the officer may ask the driver and/or passengers to step out from the vehicle. This is known as an exit order. Under federal law, police may…
Read More
When trying to identify a crime suspect, police may conduct out-of-court identification procedures such as lineups, face-to-face identifications, or photo arrays. The photo array identification procedure is where a law enforcement officer attempts to identify a suspect by displaying a…
Read More
In criminal law, knowledge is an important legal element required to prove that someone has knowingly received stolen property. In order order to be found guilty of the crime, receiving stolen property, the following legal elements must be established…
Read MoreCriminal Charges: Man charged in the Plymouth County Hingham District Court for: Trafficking in Cocaine, 36 – 100 Grams – M.G.L. c. 94C, § 32E (b) (felony: mandatory 3 ½ year prison sentence) Case Overview: Police were dispatched to a car…
Read More
Probation is one of the most common forms of criminal punishment imposed in the Massachusetts criminal justice system. Convicted offenders may be sentenced to a term of straight probation, a term of probation that runs concurrently with a suspended jail sentence,…
Read More
Equal protection under the law for minorities and other protected classes of persons has been an ongoing legal issue for centuries. All too frequently, the prohibition against facially discriminatory laws and criminal procedures has been inadequate to address racism and…
Read More
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, there have been many criminal defendants who have been held in pretrial detention for prolonged periods of time because they either cannot afford to post bail, or are held without bail on…
Read More
In Massachusetts, your criminal record is created when a criminal complaint issues against you and after you are arraigned in court. Once arraigned, these charges will show up on both your Criminal Offender Record Information (“CORI”), which is your Massachusetts…
Read More
In the Massachusetts criminal justice system, there is a legal presumption that a criminal defendant will be released on personal recognizance (his or her promise to return to court). However, the Court may use its discretion to impose bail. At…
Read More