On August 2, 2026, EK, a 19 year old man, was operating his Kawasaki Ninja in Middleton. He was travelling at about 100 mph into a turn. The bike was leaned far to the left so that his leg was barely scraping the ground when he lost control of the bike. The bike skidded across the road striking an oncoming car on the side. The bike, with EK still on it, went over a guard rail on the side of the road and then travelled back onto the road and came to a stop in the roadway on top of EK. EK’s leg was severely injured and he was taken from the scene to a hospital. His right calf was “degloved”; the skin and fat underneath were completely pulled off exposing the calf muscle. (To this date, October 18, 2026, he is still recovering.) No one in the vehicle he struck was injured. The police cited EK with Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Speeding, and A Marked Lanes Violation. EK received a summons to appear in Salem District Court for an arraignment on October 7, 2026.
EK works in an auto shop and he absolutely needs his license to work. This was his third surchargeable accident and the registry is requiring him to take the Driver Retraining Program within 90 days to avoid an indefinite suspension of his license. In addition, if he is found guilty of the Negligent Operation charge he will lose his license for 60 days (with NO hardship exemption). In addition, EK has no criminal record and he wanted to keep his record clean. EK and his parents consulted with and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from Andover to defend EK in Salem District Court.
Attorney Lewin immediately went to work on the case and went to Salem District Court to view the court papers. Attorney Lewin sensed there was a procedural error in the way the criminal complaint was issued against EK. When a person is charged with a misdemeanor (such as Negligent Operation) and the person has not been arrested, in the absence of certain conditions not present in EK’s case, the person must be afforded a Clerk-Magistrate hearing before a crimimal complaint can be issued. EK had not been arrested and the criminal complaint against him had been issued without a Clerk-Magistrate Hearing. Attorney Lewin prepared and filed a Motion to Dismiss the case (along with the required Affidavit of Facts and Memorandum of Law). Attorney Lewin explained to EK and his parents that he was doing this to gain leverage with the DA in the case. If the Motion were allowed and case dismissed, the police could refile the charges against EK and he would get his Clerk-Magistrate Hearing and in all likelihood the Clerk-Magistrate would issue a new criminal complaint and we would be right back to where we were. BUT, Attorney Lewin explained to EK and his parents, the police may not want to do that extra work and the DA may not want to bother the police with that extra work. So Attorney Lewin approached the DA and opened up a discussion with the DA about resolving the case in a manner that EK would get NO criminal record, NOT lose his license, and the charges against him – all three of them – would ultimately be dismissed. A crimimal record gets created when an arraignment takes place. Attorney Lewin and the District Attorney agreed on pre-trial diversion.
Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Blog

