In this federal civil rights claim, a citizen sued the City of Worcester, the City Manager, the former City Solicitor and a member of the City Council. The plaintiff, who previously had petitioned the City Council for action on various topics, alleged that the City and its officials violated the applicable law based upon the handling of those petitions. RJA Attorney Andy Gambaccini represented the
A retired Dracut police officer sued the Dracut Chief of Police and Deputy Chief of Police in Middlesex Superior Court. In brief, the plaintiff alleged that, while he was a member of the Dracut Police Department, he was the subject of an internal affairs investigation that resulted in a negotiated disciplinary settlement. The plaintiff later filed a breach of contract and defamation claim in Middlesex
Late one evening, members of the Fall River Police Department responded to a report that an armed individual was holding hostages in a residential building. Officers swept the building and found no such activity in what was at that point believed to be a swatting call. An individual, who was alone in his apartment in the building that night, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit
In October, 2018, a motorcyclist was involved in a traffic accident and ended up injured in the median of a roadway. A Chicopee police officer came upon the scene and began to check on the well-being of the motorcyclist while calling for medical aid. The motorcyclist wanted no part of any interaction with the officer trying to render assistance. That desire presumably was a function
In 2022, an individual sued two members of the Revere Police Department along with a private citizen. The plaintiff alleged that he entered into a business partnership concerning real property with the private citizen and, after a period of time, the relationship soured. Members of the Revere Police Department became involved in the dispute in various ways over time and, the plaintiff claimed, two officers
In August of 2016, an individual went on a violent crime spree in Worcester, Massachusetts. This individual, in a short period of time, committed multiple sexual assaults, a carjacking and kidnapping as well as an armed robbery. Worcester police officers were able to locate and to arrest this individual at the scene of the armed robbery. The individual later was convicted criminally and sentenced to
In a recent decision from the Civil Service Commission, RJA Attorney Andy Gambaccini successfully represented a New Bedford police officer in a case of first impression that now has set the legal standard regarding the effect of an employee’s reinstatement as concerns an existing civil service promotional list. After a civil service promotional examination process in 2021, this New Bedford police officer was placed on
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a judgment entered in favor of three members of the Fall River Police Department represented by RJA. The plaintiff in the civil rights case alleged that he had been assaulted by the police, that the police had committed fraud and engaged in a conspiracy to frame the plaintiff and that the police improperly caused the destruction of
In 2016, members of the Fall River Police Department were involved in a criminal investigation of an individual based upon allegations of abuse perpetrated on the individual’s siblings and the neglect of the individual’s mother, who subsequently passed away. After his arrest and criminal conviction, the plaintiff brought suit against members of the Fall River Police Department. The plaintiff claimed, among other things, that he
In a case of first impression in Massachusetts, RJA attorney Andy Gambaccini recently was successful in establishing important precedent concerning the ability of a law enforcement officer to use force in order to prevent the destruction of evidence. Deptula v. City of Worcester is a federal civil rights case in which narcotics officers with the Worcester Police Department sought to execute a search warrant on