Rape and sex crimes

Rape of a Child by Force – Not Guilty

Our client was dating a woman who had a six-year-old daughter.  In 2000, he allegedly raped the daughter repeatedly.  In 2006, the alleged victim disclosed the abuse to her mother and the police began an investigation that resulted in our client’s indictment for multiple counts of child rape, multiple counts of indecent assault and battery, and one count of disseminating matter (pornography) harmful to a minor.  During the discovery process, we convinced the judge to order the alleged victim’s mental health providers to give us years’ worth of her therapy records.  The records established that the alleged victim had repeatedly denied being sexually assaulted by our client.  We subpoenaed one of the therapists, who repeated the alleged victim’s denials to the jury.  The Lowell Superior Court jury found our client not guilty of all charges.

Aggravated Rape of a Child – Not Guilty

Our client was accused of licking his six-year-old niece’s vagina.  The niece’s mother took her to the emergency room, where she was examined by a medical team that specializes in treating sexual assault victims.  The niece’s underwear contained saliva that was submitted to the state laboratory for DNA testing.  According to the state lab, the saliva was a match to our client.  We hired our own DNA expert who examined the data and discovered that the state’s DNA expert had used the wrong statistical formulas to calculate the probability that our client was the source of the DNA.  With the help of our expert, we confronted the state DNA expert on her mistakes during cross-examination and she admitted in front of the jury that she had used the wrong formulas.  The Lowell Superior Court jury found our client not guilty of aggravated rape of a child, which carries a mandatory minimum 10-year state prison sentence.

Assault with Intent to Rape – Not Guilty

Our client is a businessman who was traveling in Massachusetts and staying at a local hotel.  An intellectually disabled employee of the hotel went into his room to address an issue with the thermostat.  According to the employee, our client pushed him on the bed, unzipped his fly, fondled his genitals, and said he wanted to have oral sex.  The employee said he immediately ran from the room.  Our client completely denied the allegations.  After the case was pending for almost two years in Lowell Superior Court, the jury found our client not guilty of: assault with intent to rape; indecent assault and battery on an intellectually disabled person; and indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14.

Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under Age 14 – Not Guilty

A 10-year-old girl reported to the police that our client, a man in his 40s, had pinched her butt while giving her a hug.  The police conducted an investigation and asked our client to make a statement.  Our client made a full, video-taped confession and acknowledged pinching the girl’s butt.  At trial, we argued the Commonwealth failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that our client’s conduct was indecent as defined by Massachusetts law.  Our client was found not guilty.

Attempted Rape – Not Guilty

Our client was babysitting his 11-year-old niece at his home.  They were watching a movie with our client’s 11-year-old son and 4-year-old son when the niece went upstairs.  According to the niece, our client followed her upstairs, pulled down his pants, and pulled her head toward his crotch while crudely propositioning her.  The niece was able to escape and she called her mother for a ride home.  Our client asserted that the entire incident was fabricated by the niece so she would have an excuse to go home.  Our client was charged with: attempted rape; indecent assault and battery; and intimidation of a witness.  At trial, our client and his son testified that they were together the entire evening and our client was never alone with his niece.  We also called two independent witnesses who heard the niece say that she “probably dreamt” the alleged assault.  A jury found our client not guilty.

Rape of a Child by Force – Dismissed

Our client was dating a woman who had two underage daughters. The daughters resented our client for breaking up their parents’ marriage and they both accused our client of repeatedly raping them. Our client adamantly denied the allegations. We immediately began an extensive investigation in conjunction with our private investigator. We obtained witness statements that cast doubt upon the daughters’ stories. We also persuaded a judge to order production of the daughters academic and mental health records, which established a history of inconsistent statements and mental health instability. On the day the trial was scheduled to start, the Commonwealth dismissed the charges against our client.

Assault with Intent to Rape – Dismissed

Our client lived in a large apartment building with the alleged victim. Our client and the alleged victim became friends and would frequently drink together. The alleged victim reported that our client had taken naked pictures of her, without her consent, after she had blacked out from alcohol consumption. During an argument, our client grabbed the alleged victim, said he was going to have sex with her, and ripped off her underwear. Our client also allegedly threatened to post the naked pictures on the Internet if the alleged victim did not have sex with him and he showed the pictures to other people in the apartment building.

We hired a private investigator who interviewed many of the apartment building’s other residents. During the investigation, we learned that the alleged victim had a serious drinking problem and had been involved in a consensual sexual relationship with our client. The investigation revealed that the alleged victim had committed perjury during her grand jury testimony. We shared the results of our investigation with the prosecutor, who agreed to dismiss all indictments against our client, which included secretly photographing a person in a state of nudity, dissemination of an image of a nude person, intimidation of a witness, criminal harassment, and attempted extortion.

Assault with Intent to Rape – Dismissed

Our client was visiting his ex-girlfriend’s apartment when several of the neighbors heard her screaming for help. The neighbors went to the ex-girlfriend’s apartment and saw our client dragging the ex-girlfriend inside the front door. The neighbors were able to get the ex-girlfriend out of her apartment and called the police. The ex-girlfriend told the police that our client had tried to rape her. Witnesses located torn, bloody clothes in the ex-girlfriend’s apartment. The ex-girlfriend went to the hospital and the treating doctors observed injuries on her face, arms, and legs. In addition to assault with intent to rape, our client was charged with violating a restraining order, intimidating a witness, and assault and battery. Due to several pre-trial motions we filed, all counts except the assault and battery were dismissed. After trial, a superior court jury found our client not guilty of assault and battery.

Possession of Child Pornography – Dismissed

Our client is on probation for a variety of sex offenses. He was living in a group home when his case worker discovered pornography on his cell phone. The case worker called the police, who determined that the pornography depicted children. Our client was arrested. We argued to the prosecutor that the Commonwealth could not prove that the images on our client’s phone depicted child pornography. After two probable cause hearings, the prosecutor agreed and dismissed the case.

Indecent Assault and Battery – Dismissed

Our client was involved in an argument with his former girlfriend as they drove together in his car.  According to the former girlfriend, during the argument our client grabbed her leg repeatedly and ran his hand up her leg, touching her vagina without her permission.  Our client was arrested and charged with indecent assault and battery.  We complied our client’s medical records and prior police reports establishing the former girlfriend had a history of physically assaulting our client and we were ready to present our case to the jury.  However, on the morning of the trial, the former girlfriend refused to testify and the case was dismissed.

Possession of Child Pornography – No Indictment

Our client’s ex-wife called the police when she discovered naked pictures of her daughter on our client’s computer.  The police obtained a search warrant and seized all of our client’s computer equipment, including his work computer.  The prosecutor was threatening to present the case to the grand jury and indict our client.  Upon review of the photos, it was clear that they did not satisfy the legal definition of child pornography.  We filed a motion to compel the police to return our client’s computer equipment, which was ordered by the judge.  We also convinced the prosecutor not to file charges and our client’s case never went to court.

Enticement of a Child Under the Age of 16 – Dismissed

A young boy was standing on the side of the road when our client allegedly drove up next to him. The boy told the police that our client asked if he wanted a ride. When the boy said no, our client said “I give good blow jobs.” Our client then attempted to persuade the boy to get into his car for approximately five minutes. When the boy refused to get into the car, our client drove away. The boy was able to provide a detailed description of our client’s car, which allowed the police to locate our client. The boy positively identified our client. The case was dismissed prior to trial.

Indecent Assault and Battery – Dismissed

Our client and his girlfriend were arguing at the girlfriend’s apartment. Our client allegedly became angry and pinned the girlfriend to the couch and put his hand over her mouth. According to the girlfriend, our client also grabbed her breasts several times. When the girlfriend attempted to leave the apartment, our client blocked the door and held her captive for more than four hours. The girlfriend escaped only by banging on the walls, causing a neighbor to investigate. In addition to indecent assault and battery, our client was charged with burglary and kidnapping. All charges were dismissed prior to trial.

Failure to Register as a Sex Offender – Dismissed

Our client was previously convicted of rape. As a result of the rape conviction, he was required to register as a sex offender. He failed to provide a correct address to the police and the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) initiated criminal proceedings. Our client admitted that he simply grew tired of registering with SORB every year. The case was dismissed prior to trial.

Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child – Dismissed

Our client was accused of fondling a boy’s penis when he was 4 years old. Our client was charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14. The case was dismissed prior to trial.

Open and Gross, Lewd and Lascivious Conduct – Dismissed

Our client was witnessed by several passersby masturbating in his car in a busy parking lot. When the police responded to the parking lot, they found our client in his car with the zipper to his pants pulled down. Our client was arrested and charged with open and gross, lewd and lascivious conduct, and the case was dismissed prior to trial.

Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child – Dismissed

Our client was riding a bus when he allegedly grabbed the breasts of a 13-year-old girl. The girl identified our client to the police. Our client was arrested and charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 and the case was dismissed prior to trial.

Indecent Exposure – Dismissed

Our client was intoxicated outside of a bar. Several witnesses saw him walk to the side of the bar, take his penis out of his pants, and urinate on the side of a building. The police arrived and arrested our client, charging him with indecent exposure. The case was dismissed prior to trial.

Open and Gross, Lewd and Lascivious Conduct – Dismissed

Our client was standing naked in front of a window in his second floor apartment. Several people on the street saw him and called the police. The police responded to the apartment, where our client admitted he had been walking around naked inside. Our client was charged with open and gross, lewd and lascivious conduct and the case was dismissed prior to trial.

Indecent Assault and Battery – Dismissed

Our client was drinking at a bar when he allegedly grabbed a woman’s butt. The woman notified the bartender, who called the police. The police arrived and the woman identified our client to them. Our client was arrested and charged with indecent assault and battery and the case was dismissed.

Lewd, Wanton and Lascivious Conduct – Dismissed

A local police officer was patrolling a park in which there had been reports of sexual activity. He saw our client, who was standing at the edge of a forest, receiving oral sex from another man. Our client was arrested and charged with lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct. We convinced the prosecutor to dismiss the case prior to trial.

Failure to Register as a Sex Offender – Dismissed

Our client is a convicted sex offender. When he renewed his registration at the local police department, he stated that he currently worked for a local contractor. The police called the contractor to confirm that our client worked for him. The contractor said our client hadn’t worked for him for more than a year. The police charged our client with failure to register as a sex offender for providing false information on his renewal form. We began an investigation to determine how recently our client had worked for the contractor and were able to locate a paycheck the contractor had given our client within the past couple of months. We obtained a judicial order to subpoena the contractor’s bank records to establish that our client was, in fact, working for the contractor. We provided the prosecutor with the results of our investigation and she agreed to dismiss the case prior to trial.

Open and Gross Lewdness – Dismissed

Our client lived in the top floor of a triple-decker. His female teenage neighbor knocked on his front door and he responded wearing only a bathrobe. As he opened the door, his bathrobe flew open and he made no effort to cover himself. The neighbor ran away. In a subsequent interview with the police, our client admitted that he wanted to see the neighbor’s reaction to his nudity. We filed a motion to suppress our client’s statement to the police. The Commonwealth agreed to dismiss the case prior to trial.

Indecent Assault and Battery – Dismissed Our client owns a store at a local mall. An acquaintance told the police that our client had made lewd comments toward her in the store’s back storage area, and had grabbed her in a sexual manner. During our investigation, we uncovered security footage that proved the alleged victim approached our client, stuck her hand down his pants, and manually stimulated him for several minutes. We shared the video with the prosecutor, who immediately dismissed the case against our client and sought criminal charges against the alleged victim for filing a false police report.