Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog

Boston Man Arrested in Watertown 7-11 for Assault & Battery With Lollipops

Published on: December 20, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Jose Rosario, 28, for Dorchester, Massachusetts, went into a 7-11 in Watertown and ended up being arrested for Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon and Disturbing the Peace for allegedly beating the clerk with windshield washer fluid and a lollipop tree stand.

According to the Watertown Police Department, police officers responded to the Mount Auburn Street 7-11 and observed Rosario allegedly threatening the clerk with windshield wiper fluid and assaulting the clerk with a lollipop display stand.

After separating the parties and speaking with witnesses, the Watertown Police Officer alleged that Rosario and the clerk got into an argument over a money order, which led Rosario spitting at him. The clerk, in return, threw a bottle of windshield wiper fluid at him in an effort to get him to leave; but Rosario allegedly threw the bottle back at him and then began to beat him with a lollipop display stand.

Cambridge Police Arrest Bicyclist for Assaulting Officer in Fit of “Bike Rage”

Published on: December 19, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Stephen R. Gittens’ “reckless and dangerous” bicycling on Broadway and Prospect Streets in Cambridge earlier this past week ultimately led to him unleashing a fit of ‘bike rage’ on a Cambridge Police Officer and his being arrested for several Violent Crimes Charges.

Gittens, 48, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was arrested and charged with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon; Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon; Assault & Battery on a Police Officer; Resisting Arrest and Disorderly Conduct.

According to the Cambridge Police Department, Gittens was riding his bike in a “reckless and dangerous fashion” by “dangerously weaving in and out of oncoming traffic.” When officers stopped Gittens in order to inform him that it was unsafe for him to interfere with traffic in that manner, Gittens allegedly began to verbally abuse the officer.

East Boston Man Pleads Guilty for Running Down Cheating Girlfriend With Car

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

Roberto Lopez, 33, of East Boston, pled Guilty today to several Crimes of Violence Charges for allegedly trying to run down his cheating girlfriend, along with the friend, with his car.

Lopez pled Guilty to two counts of Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, three counts of Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, and Assault & Battery.

According to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, on June 1, 2010, Lopez allegedly spotted his girlfriend, Vilma Rosales, along with her ‘other boyfriend’, Edwin Pineda, near the area of Union Street in Lynn, Massachusetts, and ran them down with his car.

Massachusetts Supreme Court Rejects McCowen’s Appeal of Conviction for Christa Worthington Murder

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

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently decided and rejected Christopher McCowen’s appeal of his conviction for the Murder of Christa Worthington in 2002. In a unanimous decision, Massachusetts’ highest court unanimously ruled that the defendant’s appeal was without merit and found “no basis on which to reduce the degree of guilt or order a new trial.”

Christopher McCowen, of Hyannis, Massachusetts, was convicted of the Rape and Murder of Christa Worthington in 2002 in her home in Truro on Cape Cod. McCowen was found by a jury to have first raped and then stabbed her. Worthington was found in her home as her 2.5 year old daughter was against her mother’s lifeless body. The daughter was unharmed.

Despite McCowen having lost his appeal, the decision did raise some concerns, particularly with racial issues that were made public shortly after the trial, raising the concern of racial bias during jury deliberations. Specifically, after the conviction, it was revealed that, during jury deliberations, for example, one white female juror referred to McCowen as “a big black man” who had been trying to intimidate her by staring at her in the courtroom. She also stated that bruises like those found on the victim’s body would result when “a big black man beats up on a small woman” These statements obviously offended fellow jurors, and in particular, a black female juror, which led to a confrontation within the jury room. As a result of these and other allegations of racial impropriety having occurred during jury deliberations, the trial judge held a 2-day hearing a year after McCowen’s conviction in 2006.

Sex Offender Arrested for Sex Crimes on Boston Bus

Published on: December 15, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Donnie McLean, 46, was arrested last Friday for Sex Crimes after he allegedly began fondling himself on a Route 28 bus headed towards Ruggles Station at Northeastern University in Boston.

McLean, who is also a Level 3 Sex Offender, was arrested and charged with Open & Gross Lewdness.

According to the MBTA Police, McLean allegedly initially evaded paying his fare for the bus by going in through the rear doors at Dudley Station. He then sat in the back near a young female and, according to the victim, began touching himself very inappropriately.

Haverhill Man Charged in Motor Vehicle Homicide Suspected of Drunk Driving

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

Robert Bryant, 50, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was arraigned and charged with Drunk Driving Charges and Motor Vehicle Homicide for striking and killing Cynthia Anne Ray.

According to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, Ray had gone to the Andover Massachusetts State Police barracks with her mother to file a motor vehicle crash report that involved her husband earlier in the day. As she left the State Police station and headed towards her car, she was struck by a pickup truck. Her mother, not realizing what had happened, ran inside the police station to report that accident. Only when State Police officers responded outside did she discover that it was her daughter that had been struck.

Cynthia Anne Ray was taken to Lawrence General Hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.

Boston Man Charged with Attempted Rape at Massachusetts College of Art

Published on: December 11, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

A Boston man, Venard Shepard, 21, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, was arrested this pasty Thursday in New Bedford on an outstanding warrant for an alleged sexual assault on a Massachusetts College of Art student.

Boston Police report that Shepard allegedly attacked the female student on November 26 in the college’s bathroom. She told police that she was approached from behind and Shepard sexually assaulted her and tried to Rape her. After a struggle, Shepard allegedly fled that area. It’s unclear whether Shepard was also a Massachusetts College of Art student.

Venard Shepard was arraigned yesterday morning in the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court on Sex Crimes Charges including: Assault with Intent to Rape; Aggravated Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon; and Assault & Battery.

Mattapan Murder Suspect Arraigned, Held Without Bail

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

Edward Washington, 31, of Boston, Massachusetts, was arraigned this morning in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court in connection with the September 28th quadruple Murder in Mattapan that claimed the lives of four people, which included a 2 year old child.

Washington was formally arraigned and charged with four counts of First Degree Murder, Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, Armed Robbery, Home Invasion, and Gun Charges.

At Washington’s arraignment this morning, Suffolk County prosecutors alleged that Washington conspired with Dwayne Moore and his cousin, Kimani Washington, to jointly rob the victims at 23 Sutton Street. As written in the Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog on 12/09/10, the suspects allegedly knew that the victim who was initially targeted, Simba Martin, ran a drug business from his Mattapan home and had a stash of drugs and money there. The prosecutor expressed the belief that Washington supplied the guns used the home invasion and murders, but did not reveal, however, whom they believed was the person who actually pulled the trigger that resulted in the four victims being murdered.

Third Boston Man Arrested in Mattapan Quadruple Murder

Published on: December 9, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Edward Washington, 31, of Boston, Massachusetts, was arrested and is to be charged in connection to the Mattapan murders that claimed the lives of four people during the September drug robbery in Mattapan.

Boston Police reported that Washington is to be charged with four counts of Murder, as well as Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, Home Invasion, Armed Robbery, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. He is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court.

As previously reported in the Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog, the Boston Police and Suffolk County prosecutors allege that Edward Washington, Dwayne Moore and Kimani Washington conspired to rob Simba Martin, who was known to them as dealing drugs from his Mattapan home on Sutton Avenue. The men, according to the Boston Police and prosecutors, knew that Martin ran a drug business from his home and knew of his stash of drugs and money.

Two Men Arrested for Drug Trafficking on Route 114 in Lawrence

Published on: December 8, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Dennis King and Raymond Swanson, both of North Andover, were arrested today in Drug Charges after their car was stopped by Massachusetts State Police on Route 114 in Lawrence today.

The car, which was a rental from Lowell, was stopped for speeding. A later search of the car revealed over 30 grams of cocaine. Both men have been charged with Drug Trafficking in Cocaine, Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws; Drug Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine, and Possession of a Dangerous Weapon and were scheduled to be arraigned in Lawrence District Court this morning.

Drug Trafficking: