Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog

Husband Arrested for Attempted Murder for Strangling Wife at Massachusetts General Hospital

Published on: May 30, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

John Reilly, 60, was arrested by police this weekend for allegedly trying to strangle his wife. The incident occurred this past Friday at Massachusetts General Hospital where his wife was a patient.

According to police, Reilly was allegedly observed by hospital staff shaking and pushing his wife up and down while holding her by the neck. No information regarding his wife’s injuries were disclosed by the police, nor what prompted the alleged attack.

Reilly is scheduled to be arraigned this week at Boston Municipal Court on charges including Attempted Murder and Assault & Battery.

Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Police Need ‘Reasonable Suspicion’ to Conduct Pat Frisks

Published on: May 29, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

In reversing the Gun Crimes convictions of two men, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that police officers can no longer frisk someone during a routine encounter unless they have ‘reasonable suspicion’ to believe the person is involved in criminal activity and is armed and dangerous.

In the case of Commonwealth v. Jamal Martin, that defendant had been convicted of Carrying a Firearm Without a License, Carrying a Loaded Firearm, and Assault & Battery on a Police Officer. The incident occurred on October 8, 2006, when, at 10:30 a.m., Boston Police Officers were patrolling a ‘high crime area’ in which ‘numerous shootings’ had occurred and looking for a specific juvenile to execute an arrest warrant. During their patrol, they observed a young man wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up around his face and walking in the opposite direction from which the police were traveling. Although the police could not see his face, they ‘thought’ that this person might have an outstanding default warrant…[how does that make sense when they couldn’t see his face?]

The police turned their cruiser around and engaged the young man, a teenager, in conversation. Although the police quickly realized this young man was not the person they were looking for, and simply because the young man refused to continue to speak with the police, they proceeded to ask him if he had any weapons. Despite that Martin responded that he did not, the police nonetheless continued to frisk them “for their safety.” The frisk revealed a loaded gun.

Man Gets Stuck in Door During Robbery of South Boston Store

Published on: May 28, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

A man attempting to rob Llanera Market in South Boston earlier this week got stuck in the metal grate he tried to shimmy between.

The security camera caught Phillip Donahue breaking into the store on East 8th Street by starting to bend the metal grate at approximately 2:25 a.m. By 3:30 a.m., he had gotten his head through but ended up getting stuck.

When Boston Police arrived on scene, the man was still stuck between the metal grates. He was immediately arrested and charged with Breaking & Entering at Nighttime to Commit a Felony.

Boston Man Attacks Woman, Sets Fire to Apartment and Jumps to His Death

Published on: May 26, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

When Boston Police and firefighters first responded to Gavin Way yesterday for an unknown medical call, they didn’t know what to expect. They quickly discovered that a second-floor apartment was on fire and a man had jumped from the second floor…and that a woman was inside the burning apartment, suffering from multiple stab wounds.

Boston Police report that the man, in an effort of Attempted Murder and Mayhem, set fire to the apartment also stabbed the woman. It’s unclear at this time whether the woman, whose name was withheld, was his girlfriend or wife. As police responded to the area, the man had barricaded himself inside, preventing any police or medical personnel from entering. As the police were trying to use hostage negotiators to communicate with him, he responded by throwing debris from the balcony to the police below.

Suddenly, without provocation or warning, the man jumped from the second-floor balcony to his death. The woman, who had two young children with her during the incident, was listed as in critical condition.

Clark Rockefeller’s Appeal for Reduced Sentence Dismissed

Published on: May 18, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Clark Rockefeller, the man who kidnapped his young daughter, appeared in Suffolk Superior Court this morning and asked a 3-judge appellate panel to reduce his 4-5 year state prison sentence for parental Kidnapping.

Rockefeller argued that his sentence was beyond the ‘sentencing guidelines’, but the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office justified the sentence on the grounds that his extraordinary actions under the circumstances justified the sentence. The appellate panel agreed and ultimately dismissed Rockefeller’s request for a reduced sentence.

When the media frenzy over the Rockefeller case came to light, so did his numerous alias, which eventually linked him to an unsolved 1985 Murder in California where he lived at the time. California authorities have not yet publicly confirmed whether or not they will seek to indict Rockefeller for the murder.

Harvard Student Charged with Larceny & Identity Theft

Published on: May 17, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Adam B. Wheeler, 23, a Harvard University senior, is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in Middlesex Superior Court for various Theft Crimes involving allegedly forging academic documents, transcripts, and for collecting over $45,000 in financial aid and scholarships under false pretenses.

According to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, Wheeler was admitted by Harvard as a result of falsely claiming that he had attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Phillips Academy in Andover, neither of which he attended. Harvard investigators discovered that he had once attended Bowdoin College in Maine, and improperly used referenced from that school when applying to Harvard, even though some of the referenced had never met him.

Harvard administrators became suspicious of Wheeler when he applied for the prestigious Rhodes and Fulbright Scholarships, and then discovered that he had allegedly plagiarized another student’s work. Further investigation discovered that Wheeler had also fabricated his Harvard transcript by giving himself straight A’s.

3 Men Arrested for Armed Robbery & Attempted Carjacking in Chelsea Police Raid

Published on: May 16, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Five men were detained Sunday in an early morning raid on Spruce Street in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The incident was prompted when Chelsea Police received a call that three men attempted to rob Jose Benitez and a female at gunpoint at 8:15 a.m., and then ran into 258 Spruce Street. Benitez told Chelsea Police that the men initially took jewelry and a watch, and then tried to Carjack his Cadillac Escalade.

Boston Man Accused of Trying to Light Ex-Girlfriend On Fire

Published on: May 13, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Jamaar Johnson, 23, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, was charged with trying to light his girlfriend on fire in her Cambridge apartment when she told him they were breaking up. Obviously, the attempted break-up didn’t go so well, and after a brief argument in the morning, Johnson returned with a can of gasoline and poured it on the woman’s head as she was smoking a cigarette.

The Cambridge Police Department responded after the woman called 911 and told them Johnson tried to set her on fire. He was found in her bed and immediately placed under arrest. Johnson was charged with two counts of Assault to Murder, Assault & Battery, and Attempt to Commit Arson.

Boston Criminal Lawyer Lefteris K. Travayiakis has extensive experience in defending persons accused of Assault to Murder, Assault & Battery, Domestic Violence, and other Crimes of Violence.

Homeless Man Pleads Not Guilty to Murder in Boston Stabbing

Published on: May 10, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Kevin James, aka Kevin Wayne Wilson, 43, a homeless man from Boston, pled not guilty to the charge or Murder yesterday in Boston Municipal Court in connection with an April 30 fight with Beau James Young on Boylston Street near the Prudential Center.

Young, 22 and also homeless, was stabbed in the chest during the fight that occurred around 11:30 in the evening. Although he was taken to a Boston Hospital to be treated, he succumbed to his injuries and died on May 1.

At James’ Murder arraignment, the Suffolk County prosecutor told the Judge that James allegedly admitted to the Boston Police that he fought with Young, but insisted that it was Young who pulled the knife, and that the resulting stabbing was an accident. The Suffolk County prosecutor further reported that there were two witnesses to the murder, and that James allegedly then made an effort to alter his appearance in an effort to avoid capture by the police.

Everett Man Arrested After Robbing Cambridge Bank

Published on: May 7, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Robert J. Carney, 34, of Everett, Massachusetts, was arrested this morning on the MBTA’s Red Line after robbing the Citizens Bank branch at Harvard Square. Identified by other passengers on the train after observing him with red dye on his hands, the MBTA returned the train to the station at the request of the Cambridge Police Department, where Carney was arrested.

The Cambridge Police report that Carney walked into the Citizens Bank in Cambridge on Kennedy Street and passed a note to the teller demanding cash. After handing the money over to Carney, he then fled on foot towards the nearby Harvard Square Red Line Stations. It’s at this point when the dye pack in the bag given to him by the bank teller exploded. Carney, however, continued through the station and boarded an inbound train to Boston.

Carney is currently held over the weekend by the Cambridge Police Department on bail, and scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, May 10, 2010, on charges including Bank Robbery.