Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Blog

DC lives in Ohio and has an Ohio license. Recently DC went to renew his Ohio license and was told he had a warrant in Massachusetts and a license suspension in Massachusetts and that both would have to be cleared up before Ohio would renew his Ohio license. DC had a very substantial job in the construction industry and absolutely needed a license to earn a living. On Tuesday, July 27, DC contacted Attorney Lewin and retained Attorney Lewin. Within minutes Attorney Lewin determined that in fact there was NO warrant outstanding against DC, that the entry of a warrant was incorrect. There had been a warrant but that warrant had been cancelled some years earlier. Attorney Lewin then contacted the Registry of Motor Vehicles, got the Registry to correct its records, and got DC's driving privileges reinstated. All this was done in under 4 hours.

In 2004 MS was cited in Brookline, Massachusetts for one criminal motor vehicle violation and two civil motor vehicle infractions. MS subsequently moved to Rhode Island and then to Viriginia and never received the court summons to appear in Brookline District Court. In 2005 a warrant was issued by Brookline District Court. For the last four years MS has had a valid Virginia license. Recently MS went to renew his Virginia license and was told he could not renew it because of the warrant in Massachusetts. On Wednesday, July 28, 2010 MS contacted Attorney Lewin and retained Attorney Lewin. On Thursday, July 29, 2010 Attorney Lewin went to Brookline District Court to begin work on the case. After reviewing the Court papers and speaking the with Assistant District Attorney, Attorney Lewin was confident the Judge would look favorably on a request to cancel the warrant and dispose of the case without MS having to travel from Virginia to Massachusetts. A Motion for relief was presented to the Judge who then (1) allowed Attorney Lewin to appear for MS, (2) excused MS's appearance in court, (3) dismissed the criminal charge, (4) entered findings of not responsible on the civil motor vehicle infractions, (5) cancelled the warrant and (6) closed the case. The cancellation of the warrant was electronically transmitted to the Mass. Registry of Motor Vehicles and Viriginia allowed MS to renew his Virginia license. All this was done in under 24 hours.

In 1995, while he was a college student in Rhode Island, Joseph C attended a concert in Massachusetts. Driving back to Rhode Island at two in the morning Joseph was going down Route 95 at 95 mph. He was pulled over by the State Police. It turns out that his California License was suspended. He was cited by the Mass. State Police for Unlicensed Operation and Speeding. Thereafter he returned to Rhode Island and eventually to California. He never received the Court summons and was defaulted. A Warrant issued for his arrest. The case sat idle for over a decade. In 2010 the Massaschusetts RMV (Registry of Motor Vehicles) picked up the warrant and revoked his right to operate in Massaschusetts. That revokation was entered into the NDR (National Driver Register) Data Base and California refused to renew his license. He contacted the Court and was told he would have to come out to Massachusetts to clear the warrant. Joseph retained Attorney Lewin on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. On Wednesday morning, June 23, 2010 Attorney Lewin appeared in Wrentham District Court. Attorney Lewin spoke with the Assistant District Attorney who, after some haggling, agreed to didmiss the charges. Attorney Lewin appeared before the Judge and the Judge went along with the dismissal of the charges (including the speeding ticket of which he was found not responsible). Attorney Lewin obtained the Notice of Cancellation of Warrant and furnished it to the RMV and by 3:00 PM Joseph C was cleared in Massachusetts so that he could get his license in California. This took less than twenty-four hours after being retained. Joseph C is back out cruising in his BMW.

Two California Driver's Get Lucky In Massachusetts

MP, a forty year old man, had default warrants outstanding in criminal cases in Lowell District Court, Somerville District Court, Chelsea District Court and Woburn District Court. The warrants dated back to 1989 and 1990 when MP lived in Massachusetts. In mid 1990 he moved to California leaving all the warrants outstanding in Massachusetts. In 1991 he was convicted of rape in California and then served 16 ½ years in prison in California. In 2008 he was released from prison and tried to get a California license. His driving privileges in Massachusetts had been revoked because of all the warrants. Attorney Lewin filed Motions in all the Massachusetts Courts where he had outstanding warrants to get the warrants cancelled and to get the criminal cases dismissed. Every warrant from each court was cancelled and all the criminal charges were dismissed. After tying up some loose ends at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, MP's driving privileges in Massachusetts were reinstated on March 23, 2010 and he was then able to obtain a California license. MP never had to come to Massachusetts. Attorney Lewin was able to get all the cases resolved in his absence. MP is now driving around in his 1966 Chevrolet Super Sport!

JM, a fifty-eight year old chemical engineer, resides in California. In 1990 he came to Massachusetts to attend a course in Cambridge. While driving on Storrow Drive he was involved in a collision and did not stop. He was subsequently stopped by the State Police and issued a citation for Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident. When his course in Cambridge was finished in he returned to California and never attended to the Leaving the Scene case. The case went into default status and a warrant issued against him. In 2009 JM went to renew his California license and California refused to renew it because of the outstanding warrant in Massachusetts. JM wrote to the Court (Charlestown District Court) and he called the Court and they told him he would have to come out to Massachusetts. JM retained Attorney Robert Lewin and within 28 days the warrant was recalled and the case was dismissed without JM having to come here. One trip to the Registry of Motor Vehicles cleared his Massachusetts Suspension and on March 25, 2010 California reinstated his driving privileges. JM is a happy camper.

In Massachusetts there are two types of arrest warrants: Default Warrants and Straight Warrants.

DEFAULT WARRANTS

A default warrant is issued when a person fails to appear in Court after having been given notice to appear; for example, a person is arrested for operating under the influence and is brought to a police station. The police call in a bail commissioner who sets cash bail. The person puts up the cash bail and signs a "recognizance" form. A "recognizance" form is a "promise to appear" in a specified court at a specified time on a specified date. The person then fails to appear in court on that specified date and the court issues a default warrant.

STARIGHT WARRANTS

A straight warrant is issued when the police go to a court and ask the court to issue a criminal complaint against an individual and the police want to arrest the person rather than have him/her summonsed into court. The court issues a "straight" warrant to the police and the police go out and try to locate the person and arrest the person.

Another example of a straight warrant is when a person is on Probation and fails to report or respond to his/her probation officer. The Probation Officer can go to the Judge and ask the Judge to issue a straight warrant for the person's arrest.

WARRANTS CAN CREATE HAVOC!

Having a warrant outstanding against you can create havoc for you. Your license can be revoked. If you receive benefits from the government, your benefits can be shut off. If you are picked up on a default warrant it is unlikely you will be released until you are brought to court and brought before a judge. It is not unusual for the police to wait till the Friday afternoon of a long weekend to arrest someone on a warrant. The person will sit in jail Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, and Monday night and not be brought to court until Tuesday morning.

Attorney Lewin often gets calls from people with outstanding warrants and arranges to bring them before the judge before they get arrested and he gets them released.

If you have an outstanding warrant or warrants call Attorney Lewin. Completely private/confidential communications can be had over the phone or in person and we can bring you into court and get the warrant(s) cleared. If you have a family member who has just been picked up on a warrant call Attorney Lewin for prompt advice.