Boston Criminal Defense Law Blog

Murder is perhaps the most serious criminal charge that can be leveled at a person. Most residents of Massachusetts understand that murder is the crime of intentionally killing another human being. Less well understood is the difference between first and second degree murder. An act that leads to the death of another person must be…

Today’s media is filled with references to grand juries, especially the grand juries that are hearing evidence presented by special counsel, Robert Mueller. Even with all this news coverage, few Massachusetts residents outside of the legal profession understand the function of grand juries. Grand juries are used in federal criminal cases to decide if available…

Your doctor recently prescribed a popular sleep aid to help you cope with insomnia. For the past few days, you’ve slept better, although you still feel groggy in the mornings. Your cup of coffee hasn’t yet taken the edge off your drowsiness as you head to work, and before you know it, a police officer…

Adults have legal recourse if someone harasses, discriminates against or physically assaults them at work or in public. Like many parents in Massachusetts, you would want the same protections for your children. Also like many parents, you understand that kids do not always follow the rules or realize that there can be serious consequences for hurting…

Massachusetts has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws that place significant limits on the rights of individuals to own and carry firearms. The state recently passed a law banning the use of “bump stocks,” attachments that can convert a semi-automatic weapon into a completely automatic weapon. Now, Gov. Charlie Baker has signed the “extreme risk protection”…

The Massachusetts legislature has enacted several laws intended to curb gun violence. These laws apply mainly to handguns, which are defined as a firearm with a barrel less than 16″ long. Two major provisions affect the possession and use of handguns. The first important limitation is the requirement that no one can possess a firearm…

Your child may have been prone to getting into trouble all of his or her life or has been trouble-free. Either way, you have received potentially devastating news–your child faces accusations for something serious such as drunk driving that could hurt his or her future. It feels like the end of the world to you and possibly…

Manslaughter and murder are both serious felonies in the state of Massachusetts. If you are charged with either, you should take steps to understand what these charges mean and consult with an attorney to determine the best means of defense. You may not understand what the difference between these two charges is, though, and this…

The proliferation of cellphones and other portable devices that can take and transmit photographs has given rise to a new form of child pornography — the taking and transmitting of photographs of minor children via the Internet. A selfie, as most people in Massachusetts know, is a self-portrait photograph taken with a cellphone. The growing…

Let us say you are the chief financial officer of a mid-sized software company. You are a new employee anxious to prove your worth to an overbearing boss. The quarterly numbers have to look good, and the CEO is pressuring you to do whatever is necessary to achieve that end. Now fictitious sales transactions have…