Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog

Two Boston Men Indicted by Essex County Grand Jury in Lawrence Liquor Store Robbery

Published on: April 28, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Jose Gonzalez, 29, and Rafael Tejada, 43, both from the Dorchester section of Boston, were indicted by an Essex County Grand Jury in connection with the Lawrence Armed Robbery of McCann’s Liquors on March 6.

Both men were charged with Armed Robbery, Kidnapping, Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, and one was also charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.

According to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, Jose Gonzalez and Rafael Tejada attempted to rob McCann’s Liquors in Lawrence on March 6 when they allegedly entered the store and beat the owner, Arturo Tavera, 67. Prosecutors also allege that Gonzalez and Tejada beat a store employee and a customer as well.

Brockton High School Counselor Charged with Sex Crimes

Published on: April 26, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Galen Stone, 55, a Brockton High School counselor, was arraigned today in Brockton District Court on various Massachusetts Sex Crimes Charges for allegedly taking lewd cellphone photos of female students. He was arraigned on sex crimes charges including Criminal Harassment and Annoying and Accosting a Member of the Opposite Sex.

According to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, Stone allegedly took lewd photos with his cell phone of female students’ chest areas as they reached for candy that he placed on a cafeteria table.

Brockton High School administration initiated an investigation into Galen Stone following complaints from students that he was taking photos of them. When the Brockton High School headmaster asked to examine Stone’s cell phone, he consented, which revealed photos of several students in school, as well as a teacher at Brockton High School. In addition to those pictures, Galen Stone’s cell phone also contained other homemade and pornographic videos, including many videos taken of people that were apparently unaware that they were being videotaped.

Hopkinton Man Charged with Raping and Sexually Molesting Framingham Teenager

Published on: April 23, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Donald Johnstone, 58, of Hopkinton, was arrested this week on Massachusetts Sex Crimes Charges that he sexually molested a raped a Framingham teenager. He was arraigned in Framingham District Court on several sex crimes charges including two counts of Rape, Indecent Assault & Battery, and Dissemination of Obscene Material to a Minor.

According to the Framingham Police Department, the teenager who was allegedly sexually molested and Johnstone are known to each other. Over the past several months, Johnstone allegedly would go into the boy’s bedroom, remove his clothes and touch him in a sexually inappropriate manner.

One one recent incident, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office alleges that Johnstone performed oral sex on the teenager, which led to the Sex Crime of Rape. In another incident, prosecutors alleged that Johnstone sent the teen an email with obscene videos of men engaging in various sexual acts.

Salem Father Charged with Attempted Murder of 7 Week Old Infant

Published on: April 20, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Dario Finkel, 26, of Salem, Massachusetts, was charged on several Crimes of Violence and Domestic Violence Charges for the alleged Attempted Murder of his 7 week old son.

According to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, Salem Police Officers responded to Finkel’s home, along with paramedics, and determined that Dario Finkel allegedly stuffed a baby wipe in the infant’s mouth to get him to stop crying. Finkel also allegedly dropped the infant to the floor and threw him. According to paramedics who responded to the home and evaluated the baby, there was bruising on the baby’s stomach and upper link.

Finkel was arraigned in Salem District Court and charged with Attempt to Commit Murder, Reckless Endangerment of a Child, Aggravated Assault & Battery, and Domestic Violence Charges. Following his arraignment, he was held without bail pending a Dangerousness Hearing.

Massachusetts Corrections Officers Faces Drug Smuggling Charges

Published on: April 18, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Ronald McGinn Jr., a Massachusetts Corrections Officers, has been arrested on Drug Charges for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into the Norfolk County House of Corrections. McGinn was charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance.

According to the United States District Attorney’s Office, the Massachusetts Corrections Officer allegedly met with an undercover FBI agent and agreed to smuggle heroin into the Norfolk County House of Corrections after discussing what fees he would charge for selling the drugs to inmates.

The investigation was reportedly initiated by the Norfolk County House of Corrections when the Norfolk County Sheriff asked the FBI to investigate because they had determined someone was smuggling drugs to the prisoners.

Suffolk D.A.’s Office Recruits Boston Globe in Campaign to Oust Massachusetts Judge

Published on: April 17, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Sunday’s Boston Globe cover story, entitled “He’s the jurist defendant’s covet – Judge ‘Let Me Go'”, unfairly portrays Boston Municipal Court Judge Raymond G. Dougan, Jr. as the most lenient judge in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and misleads the public from what the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is trying to accomplish – an uneven playing field.

The reality is, for every Judge who may be ‘defense oriented’, there are 20 Judges who continue to ‘prosecute from the bench’. Why doesn’t the Boston Globe run a front page article about the number of cases that are dismissed in Suffolk County each year because Mr. Conley’s office neglects to obtain evidence or otherwise prepare for trial? Or because police and other witnesses fail to appear? Or when prosecutor’s witnesses are caught lying under oath in court? Or when prosecutor’s withhold exculpatory evidence while defendant’s are wrongfully detained in jail?

At the end of the day, it is a pathetic and clearly calculated campaign undertaken by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office to remove from the judiciary any Judges that are not afraid to make truly independent rulings and without regard to whether or not they appease Mr. Dan Conley. I commend Judge Dougan for not caring whether his rulings piss off the prosecutors…I commend him for standing firm on each and every ruling he has made. The reality is, there are way too many judge’s that make their rulings because they are influenced with public opinion.

Lynn Man Indicted by Essex County Grand Jury for Armed Robbery

Published on: April 16, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Matthew David Griggs, 19, has been indicted by an Essex County Grand Jury on Massachusetts Theft Crimes Charges for allegedly holding up the Lynnfield Street Market in Lynn. He is scheduled to be charged in Salem Superior Court for Armed Robbery While Masked and Gun Crimes Charges.

According to the Lynn Police Department, Griggs held up the Lynnfield Street Market in Lynn on March 6. Allegedly wearing a mask, he walked into the convenience store with a large hunting knife, ran behind the counter and grabbed $350 before fleeing in a grey car. Although Griggs was allegedly wearing a mask that only partially covered his face, the store clerk told Lynn Police that he recognized the man as a customer.

Several hours later, Matthew David Griggs reportedly turned himself into the Lynn Police Department and admitted that he was the man involved in the robbery of the convenience store.

3 Men Charged in Lowell Court for 1969 Murder of Tewksbury Boy

Published on: April 15, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Walter Shelley, 60, of Tewksbury, Michael Ferreira and Edward Alan Brown, were all arraigned yesterday in Lowell District Court on various Massachusetts Murder Charges in connection with the 1969 murder of John J. McCabe.

The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office alleges that John McCabe, then 15, was walking home from a teen dance on September 26, 1969, when he was abducted and taken to an empty lot in Lowell, Massachusetts. The three men alleged to be the abductors are Walter Shelley, Michael Ferreira and Edward Alan Brown, then teenagers themselves.

Prosecutors believe that Ferreira grabbed McCabe and dragged him into their car. The three men then allegedly assaulted him along the way, and once in Lowell, bound McCabe’s hands and feet with a rope and covered his mouth and eyes with tape. According to the Lowell Police, the men wanted to teach him a lesson.

Weymouth Man Arrested for Raping Quincy Girl

Published on: April 14, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

William Nichols, 45, of Weymouth, was charged with Massachusetts Sex Crimes for allegedly raping a 12 year old girl in Quincy. He was arraigned this week in Quincy District Court for Rape and Indecent Assault & Battery on a Child Under 14, where he was held on $50,000 cash bail.

According to the Quincy Police Department and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, William Nichols allegedly sexually molested the girl at least one time at the Snug Playground in Quincy. It was also reported that, following his arrest, Nichols allegedly admitted to kissing, inappropriately touching and having ‘made out’ with the girl.

The alleged Rape and Indecent Assault & Battery on a Child Under 14 was reported by the girl’s uncle after he found messages between Nichols and the child on her cell phone.

Massachusetts Police Officer Under FBI Investigation for Bribery and Obstruction of Justice

Published on: April 12, 2011 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Revere Police Officer Todd P. Randall, was charged in Boston’s Federal Court with Obstruction of Justice and Bribery.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Boston FBI office, Revere Police Officer Randall allegedly lied to FBI agents when questioned about a conversation he had with an FBI informant. The informant disclosed that Officer Randall, while on duty and with his Revere Police vehicle, drove to the informant’s home and accepted a bribe of $200 to help fix or influence a pending criminal case of the informant’s friends that was pending in Chelsea District Court.

Federal agents further allege that, when confronted, Officer Randall denied ever knowing or meeting the informant or friend. The FBI agents, however, had videotaped the Revere police officer in the act of taking the money and accepted the bribe.