Massachusetts Felonies Legal Questions

Juvenile records are not disseminated to the public in Massachusetts. If you were not indicted as a youthful offender the matters will automatically be sealed.  If you were indicted as a youthful offender then the matter will appear on your adult record.  Felonies can be sealed 10 years from the termination of jail, probation and/or parole administratively through the Office of the Commissioner of Probation. They may be sealed by motion through the court before the 10 year period. For further information on sealing a record see my website at www.johnedevito.com.... Read More

It sounds like your husband has an open warrant. If so, he will most likely go through this cycle over and over until he gets the open warrant removed. The warrant will remain open until a judge orders it removed. Until that happens, everytime a police officer runs a "wants and warrants" request on your husband, regardless of what state he is in or how many times this has happened in the past, he will go through the same process. This cycle could go on forever until he comes to MA and has the warrant removed and deals with the underlying issue. I have a page on my web site (www.lawworcester.com) dedicated to this issue; Open MA Warrants. I advice people to take a proactive approach and deal with this on their terms instead of the state's. I don't know what penalty he is facing, but I suspect it isn't that harsh since MA is not interested in coming to get him. He should hire an attorney here in MA to assist him with the charge as soon as he can afford to. He will have to pay for representation and be prepared to travel here to MA if necessary. I have handled many of these type of cases over the last few years especially since RMV computers have been set up to communicate these open warrants between states. What we try to do is to get the leg work done before the client actually returns to MA. The process goes like this... the person hires us, I then file an appearance and notify the court that I represent him, get the warrant removed and set a pre-trial conference (PTC) date. I then try to negotiate a resolution with the DA before the PTC. In some cases I have been able to get the disposition done without the client ever traveling to MA. In other cases, the client then comes to MA for one (1) day to get the disposition and fly home. Understand that if the charge is vulnerable to challenge, then it will complicate and lengthen the process.... Read More

It sounds like the appropriate charge would be Larceny Over $250 (based on the value of the items, not what you received for them), which is a felony in MA. However, since you have not been convicted before, you should not be sentenced to jail if found or if you plead guilty. You should have a lawyer represent you on the charges. If you can't afford to hire a private lawyer, the court will appoint one for you. You should not go to court on a criminal charge without a lawyer.... Read More