Case Summaries - Criminal Defense
Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol:
- A man charged with six felonies jumped bail and failed to appear in two courts - Woburn and Concord - 26 years ago. He wanted to try to get the arrest warrants removed. After negotiations with the police and district attorneys, Attorney DeGelleke arranged for him to surrender on the warrants in each court, and all of the cases were dismissed.
- A young man being stopped for speeding panicked and tried to escape at high speeds on narrow roads, almost resulting in a serious accident. He was charged with multiple offenses, both criminal and civil. After negotiations with the police prosecutor, Attorney DeGelleke was able to convince the Clerk-Magistrate not to issue any complaints, thus saving the boy from a registry license suspension and from entry of criminal charges on his CORI record.
- A young man was involved in seriously damaging more than ten mailboxes in two towns. He was arrested by one police department, and the other department filed an application for cri minal charges. Attorney DeGelleke convinced the prosecutor to only press one single charge (instead of one charge for each mailbox), and that matter was continued for a short time, with pretrial probation and a dismissal. On the other charges, the clerk-magistrate agreed not to issue criminal charges. The client agreed to pay his share of restitution for the damages that were done.
- A Irish citizen who was legally in the US on a visitor's visa purchased and insured a car. The insurance agent made several mistakes, and the insurance policy was cancelled, but the client was not notified. He was stopped by the police and cited for operating an uninsured motor vehicle, driving with a revoked registration, and driving without a license. Attorney DeGelleke established that he was legally entitled to drive on his Irish license and the insurance cancellation was not his fault. All charges were dismissed.
- A woman hit a fire hydrant because she blacked out after taking too much prescription medication. The case was continued without a finding for six months and will be dismissed.
- Driver stopped by police in Concord, MA after police see what they describe as erratic driving and passing in a no-passing zone. Report claims strong odor of alcohol, slurred speech, failure on field sobriety tests.
Result: Not Guilty verdict from a jury.
- Driver arrested in Palmer, MA after he rear-ended a car that was waiting to take a turn and police determined that he was intoxicated.
Result: Not Guilty verdict from a jury.
- Driver arrested in Ayer, MA after police observed erratic driving and a near-collision and determined that driver was intoxicated.
Result: Not Guilty verdict from a jury.
- Chef arrested in Acton, MA after an accident while on his way home from work. Police believed that he was intoxicated.
Result: Not Guilty verdict from a judge.
- Driver arrested in Maynard, MA after driving wrong way down a one-way street and police determined that he was intoxicated. Defense investigation discovered that police had spoken with bartender who served defendant, and did not mention this in the police report because bartender said defendant was NOT intoxicated.
Result: Not Guilty verdict from a judge.
Police stopped defendant in Acton, MA after seeing him swerve on Route 2 and determining that he was under the influence of alcohol. At trial, defense counsel was able to prove that the police officer lied on the witness stand about important facts, including the location of the field sobriety tests.
Result: Not guilty verdict from a jury.
Motor Vehicle Homicide:
- Driver in Boxborough struck and killed a young boy on a skateboard on a dark, rainy night. After conducting an accident "reconstruction", police brought charges based on the claim that the driver should have been able to see and avoid hitting the boy.
Result: Not Guilty verdict from a judge.
- Driver skidded on a snowy road on Route 2A in Concord. The car slid into the on-coming lane, and a van crashed into the passenger door, killing the young woman in the passenger seat. The police claimed the defendant was responsible for the accident because he was going too fast and was using bald tires.
Result: After a hearing, the Clerk-Magistrate decided not to issue charges.
Other criminal cases:
- Man charged with paying for sexual acts after being found with a prostitute in a hotel room.
Result: Clerk-Magistrate was persuaded not to issue the criminal complaint.
- Woman charged iwth multiple motor vehicle infractions after an encounter with an aggressive and hostile state trooper on Route 3.
Result: Finding of "not responsible" of all charges after hearing before a judge.
- College-bound young man charged with malicious destruction of property for vandalizing mailboxes and being a minor in possession of alcohol.
Result: 6 month term of pretrial probation with dismissal.
- Sexual abuse: A woman claimed that her father sexually abused her in Bedford, MA more than 20 years ago, when she was under the age of 14.
Result: After a hearing, the Clerk-Magistrate decided not to issue charges.
- Providing alcohol to minors: A college student hosted an underage drinking party at his parent's home in Stow, MA. A boy became intoxicated, and had an car accident that caused life-threatening in injuries to a passenger.
Result: A term of Pretrial Probation, with dismissal at the end of probation.
- Termination of probation: A college student was sentenced to 3 years of probation (with extensive conditions) after he built and exploded a powerful homemade "firework". The judge agreed to end the probation after being shown how well the boy had done since the offense.
Result: probation ended after 2 years.
- Destruction of Property: A man was charged with vandalizing a light on a neighbor's property in Groton, MA.
Result: After a hearing, the Clerk-Magistrate decided not to issue charges.
- Illegal possession of a handgun: A Concord, MA woman took possession of a handgun that was left with her by a former tenant. She was not licensed to possess a handgun.
Result: A term of Pretrial Probation, with dismissal at the end of probation.
- Negligent operation of a car: A woman in Littleton turned her car into the immediate path of a motorcycle that had the right of way. The motorcyclist nearly died and was airlifted to a Boston hospital.
Result: A continuance without a finding, with a dismissal after 6 months of probation.
- Negligent operation of a car: A young driver in Maynard hit a trash can and then almost hit the can's owner.
Result: After a hearing, the Clerk-Magistrate decided not to issue charges.
- Drug possession: A passenger of a car was searched by the Boxborough, MA police, and a bag of cocaine was found in his pocket. A motion to suppress was filed to challenge the legality of the search.
Result: The Motion to Suppress was granted and the case was dismissed.
- Drug distribution: A juvenile high school student in Chelmsford, MA gave a prescription drug to another student, who became ill.
Result: After a hearing, the Clerk-Magistrate decided not to issue charges.