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EC, a 69 year old gentlemen from Stoneham, had 3 convictions for OUI in Massachusetts. His last conviction was in 2006. As a result of that conviction he lost his license for 13 years [8 years for the conviction + 5 years for refusing the breath test]. In 2010, EC retained Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover in an attempt to get a hardship license. Attorney Lewin had EC document attendance at AA meetings over a number of months and Attorney Lewin had EC enroll for treatment and counseling with a LDAC (Licensed Drug & Alcohol Counselor). A report was obtained from the LDAC. EC obtained a letter from his employer documenting the need for a license. Attorney Lewin and EC went to the Registry of Motor Vehicles (in Wilmington) for a hearing on obtaining a hardship license. After a lengthy hearing the hearing officer took the case under advisement. After several weeks EC received a notice from the RMV that his application for a hardship had been approved. The hardship license was granted (8 AM to 8 PM) with an IID (Ignition Interlock Device). EC got the IID installed in his car obtained the hardship license and life was good.

On December 19, 2014 EC went up to New Hampshire. The hours past by and at about 10:30 PM EC headed back home to Stoneham. He was pulled over on Rt. 95 in Boxford for speeding by the State Police. When the police officer saw that EC’s driving privileges ended at 8:00 PM the Trooper wrote EC up for speeding and unlicensed operation. EC again contacted Attorney Lewin. Attorney Lewin instructed EC to request a clerk-magistrate hearing immediately (that day). EC took the citation to Haverhill District Court and requested a Clerk-Magistrate Hearing. On January 20, 2015 EC and Attorney Lewin appeared in Haverhill District Court for the hearing. Attorney Lewin explained to the clerk-magistrate that EC had not been drinking at all and that this was simply an example of EC having let the time pass beyond 8:00 PM. Attorney Lewin requested that a criminal complaint not be issued against EC. The State Police did not object and the Clerk then denied the application for the criminal complaint and found EC not responsible of the speeding charge.

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On January 24, 1990 CS was arrested in Lowell, MA and charged with DUI Liquor and Operating without a License. He was bailed out from the Lowell Police Station and ordered to appear in Lowell District Court the next morning for an arraignment. CS lived in Maine at the time. CS, who was age 26 at the time, did not go to Lowell District Court and a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Court. Over the next 24 years life went on for CS. He moved to North Carolina, married, had three children, and ultimately started his own business (selling snow cones). He got a North Carolina driver’s license and life was good. In early December 2014 CS went to renew his NC driver’s license and his past came back to bite him. He was told he could not renew his license because his right to drive in Massachusetts was suspended because of the outstanding warrant in Lowell District Court. This information was showing up in the National Driver Register (NDR) and was preventing CS from renewing his license in NC. CS contacted and retained Attorney Robert Lewin in North Andover, MA. Attorney Lewin went to Lowell District Court and obtained a copy of the only paper in the court file – a docket sheet from 1990. The court file did not contain a police report. The arresting officer was no longer on the police force. Attorney Lewin contacted the DA’s Office at Lowell District Court and furnished the DA with a copy of the court Docket Sheet. The DA said they would have to see if a police report could be found and – assuming they could determine who the witnesses were – if the witnesses were identifiable and locatable. Attorney Lewin advocated for the DA to drop the case. Attorney Lewin stayed in contact with the DA at least 2 times per week for two weeks. It was becoming apparent that the DA and the police were unable to find a police report let alone any witnesses. On January 5, 2015 Attorney Lewin filed a Motion to excuse CS’s personal appearance in court and to dismiss the case. Lowell District Court requires 7 days notice on scheduling a Motion. On January 13, 2015 Attorney Lewin appeared in court on behalf of CS. The District Attorney agreed that they could not go forward with the case and the DA filed a Nolle Prosequi. A Nolle Prosequi is a dismissal of a criminal charge that is filed by the District Attorney. The Judge accepted the Nolle Prosequi and the Judge granted Attorney Lewin’s Motion to excuse CS. The Judge ordered the warrant recalled & cancelled and the Judge ordered the case dismissed. No court costs or court fees were assessed.
Notice of the the cancellation of the warrant and the dismissal of the case will be transmitted electronically to the Registry of Motor Vehicles by Lowell District Court. The Registry will then lift the suspension of CS’s right to drive and CS will be able to renew his North Carolina License. When Attorney Lewin returned from Court on January 13, 2015 he sent CS an email to update him on what happened in Court. CS then replied in an email as follows: “Great!! I can honestly say I have never had a lawyer work as hard as you have – thank you so much.” Needless to say CS is a happy camper!

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In 1986, BC was 20 years old and he had little use for authority. In that one year he was arrested for Breaking & Entering in North Andover, Larceny in North Andover, and Disturbing the Peace in Lawrence. In addition BC had a another case in Lawrence District Court on which he owed a series of fines. It all got a bit much for BC and he decided at the age of 20 to take what we lawyers call “the southern defense”; that is, he left Massachusetts and his four open criminal cases in Lawrence District Court and headed south to Florida. Things in Florida got better for BC: he married, had two children, and ultimately started his own roofing company. His children grew and ultimately left the nest; his business grew and he became financially successful. Then one day in late 2014 BC went to renew his Florida driver’s license and was told he could not renew his license because the NDR (National Driver Register) was showing a hold in Massachusetts because of four outstanding warrants in Lawrence District Court. Twenty-eight years after hitting the road his past had caught up with him. BC contacted and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover.
Attorney Lewin immediately went over to Lawrence District Court and obtained copies of the court papers from 1986. Attorney Lewin examined the papers and realized that the officer involved in the most serious of the cases was dead. It also became apparent that police reports may not be able to be located on these cases and witnesses may not be able to be located. Attorney Lewin contacted the DA’s Office. The DA would not agree to dismiss the cases until BC came back to Massachusetts and appeared in Court. BC (and his wife) flew up from Florida and BC and Attorney Lewin appeared in Lawrence District Court on December 3, 2014. The Judge removed all the defaults in the four cases and cancelled the four warrants against BC. All the cases, except for the Breaking & Entering, were then ordered dismissed. The DA wanted a further opportunity to see if they could put the B & E case together. The Judge continued the B & E case to January 12, 2015 and ordered that BC was excused from appearing on that date. After leaving Court on December 3, 2014 BC and Attorney Lewin went to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles with certified copies of the Court paperwork showing that the warrants had been cancelled and the Registry then removed the suspension of BC’s right to operate a motor vehicle. That night BC and his wife flew back to Florida and within two days BC was able to renew his Florida license.On January 12, 2015 Attorney Lewin appeared in Lawrence District Court and explained to the Judge that the Commonwealth could not go forward with the case; the Judge then ordered the B & E case dismissed. All four of BC’s cases were dismissed and he got his license back. BC is a very happy camper.

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DN, a thirteen year old juvenile, and his 12 year old friend broke and entered into an unoccupied house in Merrimac, MA and set up a camp inside the house. While in the house they went through all the rooms searching and taking inventory. The owner of the house, who lived in another town, discovered the break and reported it to the police. Because of items left in the house, the police were able to track down DN and his 12 year old friend, both of whom admitted breaking into the house. DN’s parents contacted Attorney Robert Lewin of North Andover. Attorney Lewin explained the damage that a juvenile record can cause when it comes time to apply for college or private school. DN’s parents retained Attorney Lewin and Attorney Lewin immediately contacted the Assistant District Attorney assigned to the juvenile court session in Newburyport Juvenile Court. Attorney Lewin was very familiar with the Juvenile Diversion Program run by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. When a Juvenile Delinquency case is referred to the Diversion Program the Juvenile must complete the terms of the program and must stay out of trouble. Once that is done the case is fully dismissed without the Juvenile ever having been arraigned in Juvenile Court. Because the Juvenile does not get arraigned there is NO entry made on the Juvenile’s CORI; that is the Juvenile has NO record. Attorney Lewin also contacted the head of the Juvenile Diversion program in Newburyport. Both the head of the Juvenile Diversion Program and the Assistant District Attorney agreed that DN’s case was an appropriate case for diversion. On December 16, 2014 Christmas came early for DN and his parents. On December 16, 2014 DN, his parents, and Attorney Lewin all appeared in the Essex County Juvenile Court held in the Newburyport District Courthouse. The owner of the property – a very obstinate and difficult woman – made the DA’s Office aware that she opposed the case being diverted out of the system. Notwithstanding her opposition, the case was diverted. DN will have NO juvenile record.

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The problem with having a larceny (or even a shoplifting charge) on your record is that no one wants to hire a thief. Getting a job can be made difficult if you have a larceny conviction on your record. On August 30, 2014 H & W (a husband and wife in their early 30s from Salem, NH) got caught stealing 10 metal shopping carts from a large supermarket in North Andover. The facts of the case were unusual in the extreme. H worked for a retail store and was in charge of inventory. His job required him to off load merchandise from delivery trucks and distribute the merchandise throughout the retail store. The retail store did not have large carts and moving the merchandise became a huge chore. H got the idea that he would “borrow” ten shopping carts from the supermarket and use them to offload merchandise. On August 30, 2014 at 3:00 AM H and his Wife drove to the supermarket and each of them took five large shopping carts and began to push them on a half mile journey to the retail store where H worked. The journey took them up a long steep hill. Those carts get heavy. About half way up the hill they were exhausted and stopped for a breather. Along came the North Andover Police. The police made H & W turn around and push the shopping carts back to the supermarket. The police decided not to arrest H & W but told them they would be summonsed to court for an arraignment. In most criminal cases a “criminal record” is created when the arraignment is held. H & W received summonses to appear in Lawrence District Court for an arraignment to be held on November 5, 2014. H & W both wanted to avoid having a criminal record for larceny. H & W retained criminal Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. Attorney Lewin immediately contacted the District Attorney’s Office at Lawrence District Court. Attorney Lewin prepared a background statement for both H & W and then sat down with an Assistant District Attorney and advocated for the DA’s Office to agree to dismiss the charges BEFORE H & W were arraigned. Neither H nor W had a criminal record and this incident was incredibly stupid. This was not the kind of incident that warranted giving H & W a criminal record for a felony charge of Larceny. In a “rare” moment of reasonableness the DA’s Office agreed not only to dismiss the charges but to dismiss them prior to arraignment so that a criminal record would not be created. On November 5, 2014 H & W and Attorney Lewin appeared in Lawrence District Court. The case was called and Attorney Lewin informed the Judge of the agreement that had been reached. The Judge then ordered the case against H and the case against W dismissed prior to arraignment. As a result neither H nor W has a criminal record. It is as if the incident did not happen.

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On July 22, 2014 AA, a 35 year old banker living in Somerville, was served with an Harassment Prevention Order that had been taken out by one of his roommates. The Somerville Police served the order at about 6:00 PM and instructed AA that he was to have no verbal contact with his roommate. At about 7:00 PM that same night AA was at home and his roommate came into the apartment. The roommate claimed that AA said to him “What’s with the restraining order?” The roommate called 911; the police responded; AA denied saying anything to the roommate. The police arrested AA and charged him with violating the order. AA retained Attorney Robert Lewin.
Attorney Lewin spoke with the DA’s Office. Ever since the Jared Remy case the Middlesex County DA’s Office has taken a hard line on all “domestic abuse” cases and they refuse to dismiss them. AA had a fear of trial and was extremely reluctant to try the case. Attorney Lewin encouraged AA to take the case to trial as Attorney Lewin felt it would be extremely difficult for the Commonwealth to get a conviction given the lack of any corroboration of the roommate’s claim.On September 12, 2014, at the pre-trial hearing the DA’s Office refused to dismiss the case. The case was set down for trial on November 4, 2014. In the week before November 4, 2014 Attorney Lewin and AA and a witness met twice to prepare the case for trial. AA was fully prepared to testify and he was fully prepared for cross examination. On November 4, 2014 AA and his witness and Attorney Lewin appeared at court and answered ready for trial when the case was called. The DA’s Office had to answer that they were not ready for trial as their witness (the roommate) had failed to appear. Attorney Lewin moved to dismiss the case and the judge ordered the case dismissed for lack of prosecution. The lesson in this is don’t be afraid to go to trial when you have a good case.

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On October 15, 2014, FD, a 14 year old Essex County High School student, in a moment of genius, sent a “prank” text to another student saying that if the student did not deliver a package to FD that FD would begin killing students at the school every ten minutes. The student receiving the text did not know whom the text was from and immediately brought the text to the attention of her teacher. The teacher immediately sent the student to the school security office. Law enforcement was immediately called in. Within minutes, the police investigation determined the phone from which the text was sent. FD was summonsed to the security office and was charged with Threat to Kill in a school. FD’s parents retained Attorney Robert Lewin. This could have been a disaster for FD; there is not a great deal of tolerance or sympathy for people who threaten to kill students in a public school. Attorney Lewin spoke immediately with the Police Officer who headed the investigation as well as the police prosecutor from the town where this happened. Attorney Lewin put together a written report of FD’s background and presented it to the police along with a written proposal that FD’s case be diverted out of the Juvenile Court system. If the case could be diverted then FD would not have to appear before a Judge and she would never be arraigned on the charge and, most importantly, NO entry would be made on her record. On Tuesday, November 4, 201 FD, her parents, and Attorney Lewin appeared in Lawrence Juvenile Court for a hearing before the Clerk-Magistrate. Attorney Lewin was able to get the police to agree to diversion of the case. The Clerk-Magistrate listened to Attorney Lewin and agreed that notwithstanding the seriousness of what FD had done she was an appropriate candidate for diversion and the Magistrate ordered diversion. As a result FD will have no record.

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SR is 47 years old and lives in Colorado. SR applied for a gun permit but was denied on the grounds that he had a warrant in Massachusetts that dated back to 1987. The warrant was for a misdemeanor charge of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in Lawrence District Court. SR called the court and was told that he had to come out to Massachusetts to clear the warrant or he could try getting a local lawyer to help. SR called Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover, MA. SR retained Attorney Lewin late in the afternoon on Thursday, November 6, 2014. Attorney Lewin interviewed SR by phone on Thursday evening and on Friday, November 7, 2014, Attorney Lewin went over to Lawrence District Court and had SR’s 1987 case put on the court list for that day. Attorney Lewin spoke with an Assistant District Attorney and the Asst. DA agreed to dismiss the case. The case was called and the Judge ordered the warrant cancelled and the case dismissed. Attorney Lewin then obtained attested copies of the Notice of Warrant Cancellation and the Court Docket Sheet (showing that the case was dismissed) and sent them out to SR in Colorado so that he could now get his gun permit. Within two hours after court opened this problem was solved.

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On September 16, 2014, GN, a 57 year old man from Wilmington, was accused of assaulting a female neighbor. The neighbor’s 11 year old son had been playing ball in the street in front of GN’s house; the boy claimed that the ball went under the bushes directly in front of GN’s house and that before the boy could retrieve the ball GN came out of the house, picked the ball up, and put it in his pocket. The boy went home and told his mother. The mother came down to GN’s house and rang the bell. GN came to the door and the neighbor demanded that he return the ball. GN denied that he had the ball and said he did not know what she was talking about. The neighbor walked away from the door and as she walked down the driveway she grabbed GN’s granddaughter’s tricycle and shouted to GN you’ll get the trike back when I get the ball back.GN bolted from the front door and according to the neighbor grabbed the tricycle and then shoved her. The neighbor called the police and the police responded. GN denied shoving the neighbor; he admitted to grabbing the tricycle. The neighbor applied for a criminal complaint against GN and GN received a notice of a complaint hearing from Woburn District Court. GN retained Attorney Robert Lewin. Attorney Lewin immediately advised GN to apply for a criminal complaint against the neighbor for larceny (stealing the tricycle) in order to “level the playing field”. GN followed Attorney Lewin’s advice. The Clerk-Magistrate at Woburn District Court sent the neighbor a notice for a hearing against her for larceny. The two hearings were scheduled for the same time. In Massachusetts a person has a right to use reasonable, non-deadly, force to protect their property and to prevent it from being stolen. On October 24, 2019 the hearing took place. The Clerk-Magistrate heard both sides. Attorney Lewin had photos of the scene and had GN, his wife, and his daughter testify. Attorney Lewin had made a copy of the relevant law (that a person has right to use reasonable, non deadly, force to prevent their property from being stolen) for the Clerk-Magistrate. The Clerk-Magistrate found no probable cause to issue a criminal complaint against GN. GN walked out of Woburn Court having no criminal record and no criminal complaint to defend against.

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On September 26, 2014 BQ, was driving from Western Massachusetts back to her home in Cambridge.She was transporting a substantial quantity of mushrooms (a Class C controlled substance) and marijuana (a Class D controlled substance). As she drove down Route 2 in Concord a local police officer ran her plate and determined that the car did not have a current inspection sticker. The officer pulled BQ over and approached the car. The officer immediately smelled “an overwhelming odor of raw marijuana coming from the vehicle”. The officer asked BQ where the marijuana was in the car and she said there was none. The officer told her that the car reaked of marijuana and BQ again said there was none.The officer ordered BQ out of the car and had her perform field sobriety tests – which she passed without hesitation.The officer told BQ that he would then search her car; BQ protested saying she did NOT consent to any search of the car. The officer went ahead with the search and seized large quantites of mushrooms and marijuana from the car. BQ was arrested and charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Mushrooms (Class C), Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana (Class D), Possession Class C, Possession Class D, and No Inspection Sticker.
BQ retained Attorney Robert Lewin. It became immediately apparent to Attorney Lewin that the search of the car was unlawful and that ALL the evidence that the police seized (including all the drugs) would have to be suppressed. On July 9, 2014 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Cort ruled that the smell of unburnt marijuana is not enough to justify the search of a motor vehicle.
Attorney Lewin immediately contacted the District Attorney’s Office at Concord District Court. To her credit, the Assistant District Attorney agreed with Attorney Lewin and agreed that the evidence would be suppressed and that the Commonwealth would not be able to go ahead with the charges. On October 29, 2014 BQ and Attorney Lewin appeared in Concord District Court. All of the charges were DISMISSED PRIOR TO ARRAIGNMENT. As a result of this disposition the cases did not go on BQ’s criminal record and she has no record. At Attorney Lewin’s request the police returned BQ’s backpack and the cash they seized from her at the time of her arrest. The drugs got destroyed! Every week, the decisions of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court are published and every week since he became a lawyer in November of 1971 Attorney Lewin has read the decisions. His ready knowledge of the law helped BQ avoid from having a felony charge on her record. BQ left the courthouse absolutely thrilled with the result in her case.

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