• June 14, 2023 at 2:42 pm by Steven Topazio

In a recent case the court concluded that a judge has the inherent power to expunge the record of a civil abuse protection order, issued against a defendant pursuant to G. L. c. 209A, from the Statewide domestic violence registry system, in the rare and limited circumstance where the judge has found through clear and convincing evidence that the order was obtained through fraud on the court. In this case, Jake Jones and Amanda Adams read More

• May 25, 2023 at 3:14 pm by Steven Topazio

In a recent case, the defendant, a building contractor, engaged through various business entities in the construction and improvement of residential homes. At the conclusion of a five-day trial, a Superior Court jury convicted each defendant of five counts of embezzlement of funds deposited with them by two customers, for the purpose of building a home. In accordance with purchase and sale agreements presented by the defendants for the construction of homes, the customers had read More

• May 18, 2023 at 2:13 pm by Steven Topazio

Did you know that in Massachusetts stun guns are no longer illegal – Massachusetts courts concluded that stun guns are considered to be ‘arms’ and fall within the protection of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Furthermore, it was ruled that the absolute prohibition in G. L. c. 140, § 131J, barring all civilians from possessing or carrying stun guns, even in their own homes, was inconsistent with the Second Amendment and therefore read More

• May 16, 2023 at 2:41 pm by Steven Topazio

In Massachusetts, embezzlement is a criminal offense involving stealing or misappropriating property that has been entrusted to someone for safekeeping. It is considered a type of theft crime and is punishable by law. Under Massachusetts law, embezzlement is defined as the fraudulent conversion of property or money by a person who has been entrusted with that property or money, for their own use or benefit. The crime of embezzlement can be committed by an employee, read More

• May 8, 2023 at 2:41 pm by Steven Topazio

If an argument between husband and wife escalates to one being charged with a crime or accused of domestic violence, the witness-spouse can later refuse to testify at trial. Under Massachusetts law, a witness-spouse has the right to exercise a marital privilege not to testify against their marital partner even if the prosecutor wants to prosecute the case and even without the witness-spouse’s testimony the criminal case might be dismissed due to lack of evidence. read More

• April 24, 2023 at 3:18 pm by Steven Topazio

Recently, a defendant argued that he couldn’t be convicted of credit card fraud for misusing a victim’s debit card, since proof of debit card misuse is not sufficient to support a conviction of fraudulent use of a credit card under G. L. c. 266, § 37C(e), because the instrument used was a “debit card” rather than a “credit card.” The defendant contended that because the debit card drew upon the victim’s own funds at the read More

• March 26, 2023 at 11:53 pm by Steven Topazio

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a police officer may order a driver of a motor vehicle to exit the vehicle during a traffic stop if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the driver poses a threat to officer’s safety.   An exit order is a minimally intrusive intrusion on the driver’s liberty, and is justified by the need to protect the officer from harm. The court also emphasized that an exit order read More

• May 12, 2020 at 6:26 pm by Steven Topazio

Commonwealth v. James Kearse, Docket # 18-P-1619 (2020) After observing the defendant, James Kearse, standing in the vicinity of two other men who engaged in a quick handshake, Brigido Leon, an officer in the Boston Police Department’s drug control unit (DCU), believed he had observed a hand-to-hand drug transaction.  Officer Leon radioed other officers to conduct an investigatory stop of the defendant and his companion.  As a result of this stop, the defendant was pat read More

• April 16, 2020 at 5:25 pm by Steven Topazio

In the case of Commonwealth Vs. Jean Alexis, 481 Mass. 91 (2018) the SJC held that a Superior Court judge properly allowed the criminal defendant’s pretrial motion to suppress evidence that police officers observed in plain view during a protective sweep of his dwelling after his warrantless arrest, where, under art. 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, the police could not avail themselves of the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement when it read More