Boston Criminal Defense Law Blog

If you have a teenager living with you in Boston, it may remind you of the challenges you faced as an adolescent. Teens deal with peer pressure and external influences that can make it hard to avoid making bad decisions. They are young and impressionable, and still have a lot to learn about the world. It…

Many people in Massachusetts realize that the state has a sex offender registration act, but few understand its mechanics. The United States Department of Justice also maintains a sex offender registration list, but the existence of this list and how it may be accessed are very poorly understood. Both statutes are intended to provide information…

A common question asked by criminal defendants with histories of prior criminal activity is whether evidence of a prior crime can be used to prove guilt. For example, a person who is accused of felony drug charges may have been convicted of a similar crime on a prior occasion. Can that earlier conviction be used to prove…

If you are accused of assaulting a roommate, family member or romantic partner in Boston, chances are you have a lot of questions on your mind. One of them may concern how a domestic violence charge can affect your life. Whether the allegations are true or not, you are innocent until proven guilty in a…

The English common law has given courts in the United States, both local and federal, many doctrines that are routinely applied in criminal and civil cases. One of the oldest and best known of such rules is the felony murder rule. The rule states that anyone who participates in a felony during which a person is killed…

Those defending against a felony charge in Massachusetts face varying punishments depending on the nature of their offense. A conviction for any felony carries serious consequences such as prison time and fines. For example, if convicted of felony drug charges, defendants may be required to serve up to 20 years in prison and pay a…

All parents want to imagine that their son or daughter is a responsible and law-abiding young adult. When this proves not to be the case, it can be shocking, to say the least. High schoolers are often susceptible to peer pressure and the pressures of growing up, so youthful indiscretions are hardly uncommon. What happens,…

Larceny is the “taking of someone else’s property without the use of force” – this is the main difference between larceny and robbery, which is generally defined as the taking of someone’s property with threats, intimidation and force. To be convicted for larceny in Massachusetts, a defendant must have unlawfully taken and carried away someone…

A previous blog post discussed the process of appealing a criminal conviction or sentence in Massachusetts. Harmless errors – or ones that do not affect the substantial rights of the defendant – will not justify reversal. To justify reversal, the error must have been a harmful error affecting the substantial rights of the defendant. The…

In Massachusetts, possession with intent to distribute is a felony drug charge, regardless of the type of drug the defendant is accused of having. Those convicted of possession with intent to distribute may face up to two years in jail for a first offense. Second and subsequent offenses may carry more serious sentences depending on…