Bail is a mechanism designed to “reasonably assure the appearance of the person before the court.” In other words, it is collateral that guarantees that the defendant shows up for each future court appearance. Bail can be an amount of mon…
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An arraignment is, typically, a defendant’s first appearance in court before a judge. A defendant comes to court in one of two ways – under arrest, by the police or under summons, on their own. At the arraignment the defendant is formally…
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FROM NEWTON.WICKEDLOCAL.COM: The Waltham man who allegedly stabbed his former landscaping foreman in Newton was ordered held without bail Wednesday, pending trial. Elder Quechel’s attorney, Henry Fasoldt, asked Judge Dyanne Klein to set bail at $2,…
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On June 11, 2014 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled in the case Commonwealth v. Cole that lifetime community parole is unconstitutional. Before this ruling, certain convicted sex offenders were subject to parole for life in which pa…
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Parental Kidnapping – referred to as “Kidnapping Minor by a Relative” – is treated less seriously than ordinary Kidnapping. As described in the statute, parental kidnapping includes any relative of the victim. The definition o…
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When we hear the word “kidnapping”, many of us think of an abduction off the street or of someone being tied-up and stuffed in the trunk of a car. While those scenarios certainly meet the definition of kidnapping, most kidnapping charges…
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Is Community Parole Supervision for Life (CPSL) for sex offenders constitutional? Does CPSL violate the Separation of Powers principle? These questions are being considered by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC). The issues are best analyz…
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In a recent case, Attorney Henry Fasoldt successfully argued that the show-up identification procedure used by the police was so “unnecessarily suggestive” that it was unconstitutional. The judge agreed and the Identification made by the…
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For many years in Massachusetts 17-year-olds who were charged with committing crimes were charged in adult court. Now, with a recent law change, their cases will be heard in the Juvenile Court. Governor Deval Patrick signed the bill into law on Septe…
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The Case In 2011, Defendant Galvin was indicted for distributing cocaine, and for being a second or subsequent offender in violation of section Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, 32A(d). In 2012, before Defendant’s trial had commenced, the Legislature en…
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