February 29, 2012

• Steven Topazio wrote this April 27, 2014 at 2:24 pm

The client, a 19 year old college student, was arrested after getting into an argument with his pregnant girlfriend who he accused of cheating on him. After a heated argument the Client was accused of punching his girlfriend in the stomach and slapping her in the face. According to the police report, after police received multiple 911 calls that a man was hitting a woman, officers responded to an assault in progress. When the police arrived, they questioned the defendant who responded that nothing was going on but made statements that his girlfriend was pregnant with his child and that she wants to have the baby and he does not want to have the baby because of the child support that is involved. The officers made observations of the girlfriend who had been crying and whose eyes were black and blue. After questioning several witnesses as to what happened, it was reported that the client twisted the girlfriend’s arms inward then punched her several times in the stomach and in the face, and the Client was arrested for Aggravated Assault and Battery. Aggravated Assault and Battery is a felony charge that was brought because the victim was pregnant, and carries a sentence of state prison not more than 5 years, or house of correction not more than 2 ½ years. Attorney Topazio was retained after the client’s initial counsel was unsuccessful at a 58A bail hearing where the defendant was held in custody and only released on cash bail with GPS monitoring. After months of investigation and discovery, Attorney Topazio obtained transcripts of all court proceedings and prepared his case for trial. Attorney Topazio discovered that the girlfriend was hospitalized one month prior to this incident and received injuries to the head due to fighting, which he argued were the cause of the bruising. Attorney Topazio obtained the hospital records and moved to exclude photographs of the girlfriend on that basis. Today, at trial, the court ruled favorably on Attorney Topazio’s request to exclude certain key pieces of the Commonwealth’s case, creating the opportunity to negotiate a resolution. Despite the Commonwealth’s request for a one year committed sentence upon a change of plea, Attorney Topazio was successful in convincing the Commonwealth to reduce the charge to simple Assault and Battery provided his Client accept a 9 month suspended sentence and complete a certified batterer’s program.