Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Blog
On Halloween Evening 2025, NED, a 29 year old woman, was arrested by the West Newbury Police Department and charged with Assault & Battery on her partner, ME, (a 37 year old woman) and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (a car). According to the police report NED and ME were driving back home when they got into an argument. NED is alleged to have pushed ME out of the car and then allegedly drove the car up on the sidewalk toward ME, placing ME in fear that she was about to get run over. NED was brought into the station and bail was set at $20,000. NED’s grandfather posted the $20,000 (!) and NED was released and ordered to stay away from ME, have no contact with ME, and not go back to the house she shared wirth ME. Arraignment was set for the following Monday, November 3, 2025. Over that weekend, NED and her grandfather met with and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from Andover. Attorney Lewin had successfully represented NED previously as well as another family member.
Attorney Lewin told NED that at her arraignment on Monday morning the DA’s Office would file a Motion to have NED detained (held without bail) and that the DA’s Office could request a 3 day continuance to prepare for the detention hearing during which time NED would be held in custody. Attorney Lewin spent the remainder of the weekend preparing for NED’s arraignment and detention hearing and he prepared NED for the hearing. Attorney Lewin had his investigator speak to the alleged victim, ME. ME gave the investigator a very favorable statement in which she denied that NED had pushed her out of the car and she denied that NED had driven the car at her.
On Monday, November 3, 2025, Attorney Lewin and NED appeared in Newburyport District Court. The DA moved for NED to be put in custody and the Judge put her in the lockup at the court. Attorney Lewin had prepareed NED for this. The DA then asked for the three day continuance. Attorney Lewin jumped (!) out of his chair and argued strenuously to the judge that there was absolutely NO need to continue the case for three days. The Judge agreed with attorney Lewin and ordered that the detention hearing would go forward. The DA presented the police reports to the Judge as well as NED’s prior record of previous charges of Domestic Assaults and Strangulation. Attorney Lewin had fully prepared NED to testify at this hearing. This is an unusual and can be a risky thing to do; however, NED was well prepared and her version of what happened was consistent and made sense and had that ring of truth to it. NED testified as to exactly what happened and the DA could not shake her testimony on cross examination. At the conclusion of the hearing the Judge ordered NED released with NO bracelet, and ordered her to stay away from ME and have no contact with ME. That was the REAL WIN in this case; had Attorney Lewin not prevailed at this detention hearing, NED would have remained locked up until her trial (some 72 days later).