Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog

Missing Baby Found in Dorchester, Uncle Charged with Kidnapping

Published on: March 4, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Boston Police have arrested Troy Robinson, 29, and charged him with Kidnapping his 2 year old nephew, who had been missing with him since Tuesday morning. The child was located by Boston Police yesterday in Dorchester, Massachusetts, after receiving anonymous tips. The child was taken to a local Boston Hospital for evaluation, but it appeared to Boston Police that he was in good condition.

Troy Robinson, also known as James Braxton or Troy Allen, was asked to babysit the boy on Tuesday morning. The child’s mother reported that she received a voicemail from Robinson on Tuesday evening, where he said he was running late. The child was then reported missing after he failed to return the child and his whereabouts with the child were unknown since that time. Boston Police indicated that Troy Robinson also had an outstanding Arrest Warrant for an unrelated criminal charge.

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265, Section 26A is the criminal statute that provides for the punishment for the offense of Kidnapping of A Minor by a Relative. If convicted, Troy Robinson could be sentenced to the Massachusetts House of Corrections for up to 1 year and fined $1000.

Massachusetts Man Arrested for Killing 15 Month-Old

Published on: March 3, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Edgard Anziani, 27 of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was arrested on March 1 in Maryland for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 15 month-old baby in Bangor. The criminal suspect had been pursued by the FBI’s Boston Office, who had secured a federal arrest warrant charging him with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.

In an affidavit, the baby’s mother alleged that she left the child in Edgard Anziani’s custody while she went to the hospital to be treated for severe abdominal pain in the early morning hours of February 23. Some time thereafter, Anziani handed the child to fire department officials, at which time the baby was already blue and not breathing.

Anziani told police that he heard a ‘thumping’ noise while he was in the kitchen preparing milk, and then discovered the child had collapsed on the landing of the stairs, suggesting he had fallen down the stairs. The autopsy performed, however, indicated that the child suffered injuries that “were inflicted” and “nonaccidental in nature”, including fractured bones and evidence of a human bite mark on the child’s arm.

Bogus Bridal Show Scams Thousands

Published on: March 2, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

In an elaborate cyber crime, a website advertising a fake bridal show to be held in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center this coming weekend scammed thousands of brides and vendors of several thousand dollars. The website, The Boston 411, targeted people and vendors through popular bridal event websites and common social media sites such as Facebook.

The internet bridal scam was not discovered until recently when vendors started calling the Convention Center in Boston asking when they could start setting up their booths. It wasn’t until that time that the police were contacted and Hynes Convention Center officials confirming that no bridal event had even been scheduled.

The Associated Press reports that approximately 6,000 people and vendors signed up for the non-existent show. Potential attendees prepaid a registration fee of up to $15, and vendors losing several thousand dollars, some up to $4,000, for reserving floor space and producing advertising materials for the event. The internet scammers reportedly secured payments for their fraudulent crime-scheme by demanding online payments through PayPal or similar online money transfer services.

Elderly Stoughton Man Stabbed to Death in Home Invasion, Wife Hospitalized

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

A man entered the home of an elderly Stoughton couple early yesterday morning and attacked them with a knife, killing 78 year-old Georgios Kontsas. His wife, Dorothea Kontsas, despite suffering from multiple stab wounds, managed to make it to her neighbor’s house for help where she collapsed and was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The attack on the Stoughton couple occurred at about 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating and Stoughton Police Chief Thomas Murphy declined to comment whether the victims knew the suspect or if there was any motive to the attack and murder.

If apprehended, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office could charge the criminal offender with Murder, Home Invasion, Attempted Murder, and Aggravated Assault & Battery on a Person Over 60.

Dorchester Man Convicted by Suffolk County Jury in Boston’s 2008 South End Murder

Published on: February 27, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

On February 26, 2010, a Suffolk County Jury yesterday convicted Steven Odegard for the 2008 Boston South End murder of Daniel Yakovleff. After meeting Yakovleff at a Boston South End bar, prosecutors accused Odegard of taking him to his home, engaging in sexual relations, and then stabbing him to death in a fit of rage.

The criminal defendant, Steven Odegard, testified in his own defense and admitted to meeting Yakovleff at a gay bar the previous evening and returning with him to his home. He claimed, however, that there was also a third man who returned to his home with them and it was this man who went into his bedroom with Yakovleff after Odegard and the victim had already had sex. In his testimony, Odegard told the jury he woke up around 6:00 a.m. and found Yakovleff in his bed with a 13-inch knife in his chest and the third man already gone-he then called 911 and spoke with the Boston Police Officers who responded to his call. Odegard’s defense at his murder trial was that he had passed out on the couch after a night of alcohol, prescription drugs and the Levitrol sex drug that he took.

The defense had also called called a physiology/pharmacology expert in its case, who testified that the combination of alcohol and drugs that Odegard took that evening could have made him inebriated to the point where his cognitive and physical skills were so diminished that he wouldn’t have been able to function.

Massachusetts Supreme Court Reverses Gun Conviction for Constitutional Violation

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

A defendant who was convicted for the gun crimes of Carrying a Firearm Without a License and Carrying a Loaded Firearm recently had his convictions overturned because the admission of the Ballistics Certificate, without live expert testimony, violated his Right to Confrontation under the 6th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

At his criminal jury trial in the District Court, the prosecutor sought to prove that the gun at issue was an operable firearm with evidence consisting only of the Ballistics Certificate, which is simply a police ballistician’s certification that the firearm has been examined, tested and found to be functional. The ballistician who examined the firearm was not called as a witness by the prosecutor at trial, and therefore was not available to the defendant’s criminal defense lawyer for cross-examination. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that, because the ballistician was not made available to the defense for cross-examination of his findings, the defendant’s constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him was violated. Read the full Massachusetts Supreme Court’s opinion in Commonwealth v. William Rivera.

The reversal of the defendants gun convictions follows the recent ruling in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, where the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the prosecution cannot prove its case with affidavits and without the benefit of live witness testimony. The case of Melendez-Diaz involved a drug trial where the prosecutor admitted a Certificate of Drug Analysis in lieu of the chemist’s testimony that the contraband seized by the police was, in fact, cocaine.

Police Can Resume Interrogation Following Criminal Suspect’s Request for Lawyer After 14 Days

Published on: February 25, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

In a recent decision, the U.S. Supreme Court instituted a new rule when it comes to criminal law, police questioning and the safeguards surrounding the scope of Miranda. On February 24, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that if a criminal suspect requests to speak with his lawyer, the police must stop their questioning and cannot restart interrogating him until 14 days has passed. This new rule, outlined in Maryland v. Shatzer narrows the Court’s previous ruling on this issue.

In the 1981 case of Edwards v. Arizona, the Supreme Court established a clear rule to protect a criminal suspect who invokes his 5th Amendment right to an attorney against the pressures and coercion of police in the custodial interrogation setting. In short, the rule was that if a criminal suspect wants to speak with his lawyer, the police must stop their questioning and cannot restart their interrogation of him unless the suspect himself initiates the questioning on his own – otherwise the presumption would be that any subsequent waiver of Miranda would be the result of coercion. The Supreme Court’s decision in Maryland v. Shatzer limits that rule, now permitting to the police to essentially ignore the criminal suspect’s earlier request for a lawyer and reinitiate questioning after a period of 14 days if there had been a sufficient break in the custodial interrogation.

The Supreme Court’s decision on this critical criminal law issue appears to provide the police a bright-line rule of what they are and are not permitted to do. One might agree that the police and law enforcement in general need to have a checklist of ‘do’s and dont’s spelled out for them, otherwise we might invite them to engage in unconstitutional police practices…

Boston U.S. Attorney’s Office Re-Opens 1993 Mail Bomb Investigation

Published on: February 25, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

The Boston U.S. Attorney’s Office has reopened its investigation of the attempted mail bombing of Boston Children’s Hospital Dr. Paul Rosenberg. Amy Bishop, now charged with killing three other professors at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and shooting several others, along with her husband, James Anderson, are again named as suspects in that mail bombing.

In 1993, Dr. Paul Rosenberg received a package containing a bomb, but the package did not explode. The package was apparently sent shortly after Amy Bishop quit her job at Boston’s Children’s Hospital after a bad peer review by Dr. Rosenberg.

As previously reported in the Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog, in 1986, Amy Bishop was also questioned regarding the 1986 shooting and killing of her brother. She was not charged relative to that incident, authorities determining at the time that the shooting was accidental.

Criminal Defendants’ Right to a Public Trial Extends to Jury Selection Process

Published on: February 24, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

The U.S. States Supreme Court recently ruled that a defendant’s Constitutional Right (per the 6th Amendment) was violated when the court refused to allow his uncle from watching the jury voir dire process at his criminal trial. As a result the ruling, the man had his cocaine trafficking conviction overturned.

In general, because the public has a First Amendment Right to access the jury voir dire process, a criminal defendant also has a Sixth Amendment Right to a public trial. In other words, the Supreme Court essentially stated that it doesn’t make sense for the public to have the right of access to public proceedings, but to then deny a defendant his right to to a public trial.

In this particular case, Presley v. Georgia, the criminal defendant’s lawyer objected to the trial court from excluding the defendant’s uncle from sitting in the same room with prospective jurors. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, in a criminal trial, the courts are obligated to accommodate the public access.

Massachusetts Woman Sought for Kidnapping Baby Arrested in Pennsylvania

Published on: February 23, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Kimberly Johnson, 38, had been sought by Massachusetts State Police since last Thursday when she allegedly kidnapped a thirteen month-old baby from a gas station in Swansea, Massachusetts. After a multi-state search, she was arrested last evening in a Pennsylvania women’s shelter where she had used a stolen ID and alias.

The Massachusetts State Police and the D.A.’s Office is working with Pennsylvania law enforcement authorities to arrange her rendition to Massachusetts, where she will likely be criminally charged with Kidnapping.

In Massachusetts, the charge of Kidnapping is an extremely serious criminal offense, a life felony which is punishable in state prison for any term of years up to life. Massachusetts General Laws defines Kidnapping in Chapter 265, Section 26, as the forcible or secret confinement of another person with intent to cause him to be secretly imprisoned against his will in this Commonwealth, or cause him to be sent out of this Commonwealth against his will.