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On Saturday morning March 2, 2019 at about 2:30 am,  DE, a 48 year old plasterer from Malden, was arrested for Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident and for Failing to Identify Himself. The police responded to a one car accident on Rt. 99 in Malden. A work van full of plastering equipment was found by the police up against a utility pole. The entire front end of the van was crashed in and both front airbags had deployed. No one was in the van. The keys were still in the ignition. The police ran the license plate and the registered owner was DE who lived near the accident scene. It was 2:30 in the morning. The police got an anonymous tip that a man wearing a gray sweater was seen leaving the van and heading up the street on foot toward the street where DE lived. The police drove up the street and located DE walking. He was drunk; he was covered in plaster; and he was walking toward his home. The police asked DE to identify himself and he refused. He demanded to know why the police were stopping him. The police told him his van was wrapped around a pole and he said F___ you to the officer. The police arrested DE. He refused to say anything to the police. He refused to admit the van was his; he refused to admit that he was driving; he said NOTHING. DE was brought to the police station and again he refused to say anything. He was put in a cell and at about two in the afternoon he finally got bailed out. On Monday, March 4, 2019 DE went to Malden Court and was arraigned.

DE called Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. DE was quite familiar with Attorney Lewin as Attorney Lewin had successfully defended DE against a charge of Drunk Driving 2nd Offense that had been brought against DE by the Gloucester Police in June of 2018. That case went to a jury trial on November 28, 2018 and on November 29, 2018 DE was found NOT guilty. (To read about that case see the entry on this website dated December 4, 2018).

In any event Attorney Lewin prepared the case for trial and noted that the Commonwealth would have trouble proving that DE was driving the van at the time of the accident. The District Attorney had numerous documents from the Registry of Motor Vehicles; but Attorney Lewin noticed that the documents were not properly certified. Attorney Lewin kept that little tidbit of information to himself.

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On May 31, 2019 QN, a 19 year old male, was driving home to his Mother’s house in Andover when he lost control of his car and crashed into two parked vehicles. It was about 2:30 AM. QN got out of his car and looked around. All the homes in the neighborhood were dark. QN called his father who lives in Peabody. The father told him to wait at the scene and that the father would drive up from Peabody. QN waited and about 30 minutes later his father arrived. The father called for a tow truck and the father brought QN to QN’s mother’s house which was just around the corner.  The father then returned to the scene. The tow truck arrived but told the father that the car could not be towed because the car came to rest on private property (the front lawn of a house). The tow truck driver called the police and the police responded. The police arrived and asked the father what  happened. The father told the police that his son had been driving and lost control and that the father had brought the son to his mother’s house. The police went to the mother’s house and rang the doorbell but no one responded. The police charged QN with Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident. The police charged the father with Misleading a Police Officer.

Father and son met with Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. Attorney Lewin pointed out that he did not believe that any law had been broken!

The hit and run law requires that when a driver is involved in a collision he must stop at the scene and “make known his name, residence, and the register number of his motor vehicle”. The law requires that the information be given “to the person whose property was damaged, if reasonably possible, and if not, to someone acting in their interest or to some public officer or to some other person at or near the place at the time of the damage.” QN had remained at the scene for 30 minutes. All of his information was known to his father and as soon as the police arrived the father told the police his son’s name and residence address. The registration plate was on the car and plainly visible to the police. Attorney Lewin pointed out to QN that he only left the scene AFTER he had made known what happened to his father and that he therefore had substantially complied with the requirements of the law.

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NT, a 28 year old woman with anger issues, got into an argument with her next door neighbor – a retired cop. The argument arose when the neighbor’s dogs came onto NT’s property. The neighbor came over to get the dogs and NT got in his face and began to yell at him. As the neighbor turned to leave NT yelled at him “You come back here”. According to the police report the neighbor stated “he turned back around and that was when NT spit up a loogie and spit it at the neighbor striking his chest”. (You can’t make this stuff up!)

The neighbor called the police and the  police responded. The police talked to the neighbor and to NT’s father. The father told the police that NT had anger issues. The police then applied for a  criminal complaint against NT for Assault and Battery on a Person Over 60 – a felony. NT has a good job and having a record for a felony charge could have very serious consequences for her employment. NT received a notice from Woburn District Court informing her that a Hearing before a Clerk-Magistrate had been set for November 6, 2019.

NT met with and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. Attorney Lewin immediately obtained copies of the police reports. Attorney Lewin then called the Police Prosecutor and sent an email to the police prosecutor detailing how detrimental it would be for NT to be charged with a felony. Attorney Lewin suggested to the Police Prosecutor that this would be a good case to resolve at the Clerk-Magistrate Hearing without a complaint being issued against NT. The prosecutor agreed with Attorney Lewin.

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KT, a 48 year old male graphic designer, was accused by the 5 year old daughter of a female friend of touching her in her private area. She also said that he had her touch him. The five year old reported this to a social worker (a mandated reporter) who in turn reported the allegation to the Department of Children and Families (DCF). The initial report of abuse was made to DCF on December 10, 2018. DCF conducted an investigation and on January 9, 2019 DCF supported the allegation. KT received a “perpetrator letter” from DCF informing him that an allegation of sexual abuse had been made against him and that after investigation DCF supported the allegation.

KT met with Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover for an extensive (2 hour) initial consultation. Attorney Lewin explained in detail the Appeal Process – which is called a “Fair Hearing”. KT retained Attorney Lewin. Attorney Lewin – through discovery – obtained full copies of the initial report of abuse (called the 51A report) and the full DCF investigation report (called the 51B report). Attorney Lewin took a full statement of the facts from KT.

In order for DCF to support the allegation there must be evidence and proof that KT was a “caregiver” to the child “at the time in question”. Attorney Lewin prepared and submitted to the Fair Hearing Officer a comprehensive Memorandum setting forth all of the legal arguments in KT’s behalf. In the Memorandum Attorney Lewin argued – among other things – that the evidence did NOT establish that KT was a “caregiver” to the child.

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On January 18, 2019 at about 6:30 pm JN, a 32 year old HVAC Technician from Londonderry, NH came down to Lawrence with a friend to buy cocaine. Little did they know that they were being watched by the North Shore Gang Unit doing surveillance in Lawrence. After watching JN and his friend make a hand to hand purchase of drugs, the police pulled JN’s vehicle over. The two men were ordered out of JN’s vehicle and a pat down of JN yielded plastic twists of cocaine in JN’s pocket.

JN and his friend got lucky. The police did not arrest them, but rather told them that they would receive a notice to go to court. Six months later (!) in July 2019 JN received a Notice of Magistrate’s Hearing. The police had filed an application for a criminal complaint for Possession of Class B against JN. The case had a hearing date of August 1, 2019.

JN met with and then hired Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. JN and Attorney Lewin thoroughly discussed the case. There were many issues not the least of which was the legality of the stop of JN’s vehicle and the search of JN by the police.

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JJ, a 69 year old disabled Methuen resident, hates his next door neighbor. The neighbor parks his truck right at the property line between the two mens’ properties and this drives JJ nuts. On August 9, 2019 the neighbor was standing by his truck. JJ grabbed his cane (!) and hobbled outside of his house, down the walkway, to his fence. According to a Methuen Police Report JJ then started to approach his neighbor and yelled at the neighbor “You’re a fat fu–ing piece of sh–.” The police report then states that JJ continued to approach his neighbor and began swinging his cane and yelled “I want to smash your head in.” The neighbor called 911 and the police responded. The police spoke to JJ who denied swinging the cane. The police did not arrest JJ but filed an application for a criminal complaint for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon against JJ at Lawrence District Court.

JJ called Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. As it turns out Attorney Lewin had represented JJ in 2012 for a similar incident with the neighbor where the neighbor had applied for an abuse prevention order against JJ. At a full hearing in front of a Judge in Lawrence District Court that Abuse Prevention Order was denied.  Attorney Lewin had also represented JJ in 2018 at a Clerk-Magistrate Hearing where the police had filed an application for a criminal complaint against JJ for threatening to kill the neighbor. Attorney Lewin was successful in getting that case dismissed. Attorney Lewin warned JJ that he had to get his temper under control and ignore the neighbor.

In any event on October 10, 2019 the Clerk-Magistrate Hearing was held at Lawrence District Court and after a full hearing at which the neighbor was present the Clerk-Magistrate denied the application for a criminal complaint against JJ.

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On August 31, 2019, UN, a 21 year old college student was driving his car in Beverly, MA when he veered off the road and struck a tree head on. The police responded to the scene (along with a group of neighbors). UN was behind the wheel and appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness. His pupils were extremely dilated. In the car the police found an open container of beer along with what appeared to be a “drug pipe” (as described in the police report). Two doses of Narcan were administered to UN and he responded. He was brought to Beverly Hospital. The police cited UN for OUI Drugs and Reckless Operation. In addition, the Police also served UN with a Notice of Immediate Threat. A notice of Immediate Threat is a notice that the police send to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to request the RMV to suspend a person’s license because the person (for either a medical reason or some other reason) poses a threat to the public if they operate a motor vehicle.

UN insisted that he had not consumed any drugs or any alcohol. UN (and his family) sought out a lawyer. UN and his Mother had an initial free consultation with Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. The consult ran over two hours. UN and his family hired Attorney Lewin.

Attorney Lewin told UN that the Hospital Report would be critical to defending this case – and it was. Attorney Lewin directed UN to go to the hospital and obtain a copy of the complete hospital report – including most importantly all the blood test results and all the urine test results. Sure enough, the test results showed NO alcohol and NO controlled substances -in particular NO opiates. The case became a slam dunk at that point.

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ED, age 17 from a bedroom community north of Boston, graduated with honors from High School in May 2019 and was due to go off to college in August. On Monday, May 27, 2019, he was with some friends. They all decided to get some weed and get high. One of the boys got weed and they all proceeded to smoke. ED’s last good memory was smoking the weed. His next good memory was waking up in an ambulance being brought to the hospital.

According to a police report the police responded to an accident scene as the result of several 911 calls. Upon arrival at the scene and speaking with witnesses it was determined that ED had run out into the street directly in the path of an oncoming car and was struck by the car. The driver of the car – herself in shock at what had happened – remained at the scene. According to police reports ED, after the collision, entered a motor vehicle and barricaded himself in the vehicle. The police ordered ED out of the car but he refused. After some tugging and pulling ED was removed from the car and forced to the ground. He resisted the police and scratched at the police and actually bit one of the police. Back up offices arrived at the scene and ED was subsequently cuffed and placed into an ambulance. According to one police officer’s report ED was in an “excited delirium state”; his heart was racing, he was sweating profusely, and when he spoke he made no sense.

The police charged ED with two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, one count of malicious destruction to property, disorderly conduct, and interfering with a police officer.

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KC is a 39 year old director of IT for a high tech company. He is married with two young children. For about two years KC was having an affair with a 26 year old teacher at the day care center where his children go every day. On Saturday, April 6, 2019 KC told his wife he was going out to a birthday party for a fellow employee. That part was true; what he didn’t tell his wife is that he was meeting his girlfriend after the party. At about 10:00 pm that night KC left the birthday party and went to a local bar in Danvers where he met up with his girlfriend. She had been drinking and she continued to drink. Sometime shortly after midnight KC and the girlfriend left the bar and got into KC’s car. They began to argue and she told him “You are never going to leave your wife.” At that point the girlfriend went crazy and began to punch and hit and scratch KC. KC put his arms up to block the girlfriend’s punches and in the process her nose was struck and began to bleed. She then got out of the car and walked across the street to a fire station where she told the firemen that her boyfriend had beat her up. He left and drove home. Within minutes the police were at his door and KC got arrested for a domestic assault and battery on his girlfriend. Fortunately KC had the presence of mind and the smarts to take pictures of himself and all the scratches that he had on his face and neck from his girlfriend. Unfortunately for KC, his wife was there when the police came and arrested him for assault and battery on his girlfriend. As he was being led off by the police she told him don’t bother coming back home.

KC went to Court the following Monday and was arraigned. He was ordered to have no contact with the girlfriend and to stay away from her. He went to live with a brother.

KC met with and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. Attorney Lewin could see right away that she had been the aggressor in this case and that he had acted only in self-defense. Then the phone calls, the texts, and the emails began. The girlfriend was trying to contact KC at least 25 to 30 times each day. As instructed by Attorney Lewin, KC saved every text, email, and voice message that she left. In her texts she threatened him if he did not get back to her. Then the girlfriend contacted KC’s wife (in person, directly) and asked her what was going on with her marriage to KC. KC’s wife told the girlfriend he’s all yours if you want him.

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KS, a 27 year old male from Reading, worked as a manger for a self-storage company with locations in many areas including Malden and Salem. Part of his job was to make deposits at the bank each day of the checks and cash he took in from customers. One day he was called into the office and accused of not making the deposits on several dates from both the Salem and Malden locations. He denied the accusations; however, he could not account for what happened to the checks and cash that were taken in on his watch. The police were called in and an investigation ensued and the evidence against KS was overwhelming.

KS had some emotional issues and a slight learning disability. KS’s parents got involved and contacted Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. KS and his parents met with and then retained Attorney Lewin. Attorney Lewin explained to KS and his parents that if there is one thing that can help make this type of case go away it is paying the money back. The amounts of money were not large ($562 from the Salem facility and $457 from the Malden facility). KS and his family asked Attorney Lewin to see if the cases could by ended without court by paying the money back.

Attorney Lewin immediately contacted the Malden Police, the Salem Police, and the employer. The employer was interested in getting their money back and agreed to tell the police that if they were paid back they would not push for KS to be prosecuted in court. Attorney Lewin spoke directly with the Malden Police Officer handling the theft in Malden and he was agreeable to not bringing charges against KS if the money were paid back. The Salem Police, however, had already filed for a criminal complaint against KS prior to Attorney Lewin entering the case. That case was in Salem District Court; however, KS had not yet been arraigned. Attorney Lewin immediately contacted the District Attorney at Salem District Court and explained the situation. On July 8, 2019 KS and Attorney Lewin appeared in Salem District Court. Attorney Lewin asked that KS not be arraigned but that the arraignment be postponed to give the District Attorney time to confirm that the employer had been paid and that the employer was not interested in prosecution. The reason Attorney Lewin did not want KS to be arraigned is that once he would have been arraigned an entry would be made on KS’s criminal record. It is the taking place of the arraignment that creates a criminal record.

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