MA Police Defense Fund

Arbitrator: Granby wrong to suspend ex-fire chief John Mitchell; hearing on propriety of firing yet to come

From Jim Russell | Special to The Republican November 9, 2020 GRANBY – An arbitrator on Wednesday determined the Selectboard lacked justification to suspend, without pay, the town’s former fire chief, John Mitchell, while he was still an employee earlier this year. The Selectboard’s office has not responded to a request for comment. “The Town is hereby ordered to immediately rescind the suspension, remove all

Read More »

Lawyers brace to defend thin blue line in troubled times

From masslawyersweekly.com By: Pat Murphy October 22, 2020 Lawyers who defend police accused of misconduct are alert to the potential impact that the death of George Floyd and other alleged cases of officers using excessive force against minorities could have on their own clients’ cases. “You are always concerned about the public climate and how it affects any case,” says Leonard H. Kesten, a Boston litigator who

Read More »

Superior Court Judge Dismisses All Claims Against Two Waltham Police Officers In Civil Rights Lawsuit

In 2018, the plaintiff amended his complaint in an existing civil rights lawsuit to name two Waltham police officers as defendants. In the amended complaint, the plaintiff alleged that he was defamed by the police officers’ filing of false police reports about him, that one of the officers sought a criminal complaint against the plaintiff without prior notice or respecting his right to a show

Read More »

Arbitrator Reverses Five Day Suspension of Springfield Police Officer

In a recent arbitration award, Reardon, Joyce & Akerson, P.C. (“RJA”) successfully represented a Springfield police officer in connection with a five day suspension. Prior to the five day suspension, the officer, who was not at that point a member of the Massachusetts Police Association Legal Defense Fund, had been suspended from his duties based upon various allegations, including that the officer had not been

Read More »

Open and Gross Lewdness and Lascivious Behavior Under G.L. c. 272, §16 Requires “Shock” or “Alarm” to Another Person

In the case of Commonweatlh v. Maguire, 476 Mass. 156 (2017), the Supreme Judicial Court addressed the elements of the felony crime of Open and Gross Lewdness and Lascivious Behavior under G.L. c. 272, §16.  Based upon a failure to prove that the defendant’s conduct of exposing his penis to several females sitting on a bench at the Hynes Convention Center subway platform produced either

Read More »

First Circuit Court of Apeals Affirms Judgment in Favor of Fall River Police Chief in Case Involving Allegation of Rape by a Police Officer

In a recent First Circuit decision concerning civil liability for police supervisors, Saldivar v. Racine, 818 F.3d 14 (2016), Reardon, Joyce & Akerson, P.C. (“RJA”) successfully represented the Fall River Chief of Police in a civil rights lawsuit in which the plaintiff, who sought $750,000.00 in damages, claimed that she had been assaulted and raped by a Fall River police officer.  According to the plaintiff,

Read More »

According to SJC, Police Need Only Notify Suspects of the Recording of the Interview; You Do Not Need Suspect’s Permission to Record the Interview

In Commonwealth v. Alleyne, ___ Mass. ___ (2016), the Supreme Judicial Court clarified that police officers do not need a suspect’s permission to record the suspect’s interview as long as the suspect has actual knowledge of the recording.  The Court recommended that police departments do away with their interview forms that advise a suspect of a right to refuse recording and that require the suspect

Read More »
Top
Contact Us
close slider

Do You have Questions?

We've Got Answers.