As most people are aware there are a lot of concerns about social media with issues of privacy and concerns about who you and your children might be “friending”.   In today’s legal climate there are a lot of legal risks associated with the internet that people are not aware of.  It is a fairly common practice for school resource police officers to troll social media for students who might be on YouTube, Facebook, My Space and other social media tools, to monitor their activities.  In some cases they have taken out criminal complaints if what they found on the social media appears to be a crime.

I just recently had one case in which the school resource officer went as far as charging my client along with a friend of his with the eavesdropping statute for essentially taking a video of another party, supposedly without that other party’s permission.  You do see charges whether it is an assault or minor in possession or other crimes that can be viewed. 

In addition, it is a common practice among probation officers to look for the probationers and their friends on social media networks to see if there are any posting or pictures showing in violations of their probation.  This might include minor in possession of alcohol or talking about it or marijuana or other questioning activities.  I have been in court where I have seen children who have ended up being committed to DYS or the house of corrections based on what was posted on the social media networks.

There are a lot of issues with children going through a divorce. There may be significant emotional and behavioral issues. The state now requires that parents attend a parenting education class prior to finalizing the divorce.  The idea is that the divorce is difficult on children and parents should be educated regarding not how to raise children but the impact that the divorce may have.  Whether this is a good idea or not that it is mandatory is disputable but it is now the law.

Parents do need to understand whether through classes and education or on their own that the break up of a family can have profound impact on children.  Parents need to put their children first.  Basic advice is no matter how bad the other spouse is or how they are behaving- do not bad mouth that spouse to the child.  Do not make the child the messenger or give the child too much information.   Parental alienation of the other spouse is a large concern for the court.  Try  to think about the impact the divorce may have on the children and how to minimize this.

In court, in extreme cases you can ask for a GAL to resolve some of the issues regarding children or also pay for a parenting coordinator to help parties in a high conflict case resolve some parenting issues.

OUI have traditionally been one of the most litigated criminal cases in MA.  There are a lot of defenses and many cases that do not look winnable can become so.  Do not automatically plead out to your case.  A few things to do are:

1.  Have your attorney file an omnibus discovery motion that includes asking for the officer's training material and notes along with certain certifications and appropriate convictions for subsequent offenses.  Many times you can have the charge reduced- I had a 5th offense reduced to a second a few months ago becuase the DA could not produce the appropriate paperwork which made the offense on that did not have a mandatory jail sentence of 2 1/2 years.  The defendant was told by his prior attorney to plead to a 5th offense. 

2.  Filing pretrial motion to dismiss the case( if appropriate), suppress the stop or speech.  I had a case with a .08 BT dismissed at the pretrial stage this year based on lack of probable cause.  I have had parts of searches, stops and statements suppressed( not be uses against)

Holidays have a lot of good things about them but as everyone know can be very stressful.  I am a lawyer who helps people in trouble.  One of the most troubling times for people is during and after the holiday season.  This is one of the busiest times of the year for an attorney as people are dealing with many issues with family and finances.  A lot of people also wait until after the holidays to file for divorce, bankruptcy and more. 

 A lawyer is not a counselor and can not tell you whether  this is right for you emotionally but can tell you some of the advantages and disadvantages.   There is a lot of information that is useful to think about.  The more information about your finances regarding incomes, assets, liabilities and expenses will be a large part of any discussion.  Looking at what the best case scenario, worst case and in between scenario if you do not file and the same if you do file is a good way to explore some of your options.  Most lawyers, including myself, offer a free initial meeting but if you have some of this information it will help the lawyer to advise you.

The criminal justice system is a big bureaucracy.   If charged you want to get out of the bureaucracy.  One issue is to look closely at the police report and to determine if there are sufficient evidence to charge you with a crime.   You can file a motion to dismiss arguing that even if you assume the evidence in the police report is accurate there is not enough evidence to meet the probable cause. This is an excellent vehicle to get weak cases dismissed at the outset.

In MA, child support is generally one of the more straightforward areas.  There is a guideline or formula that would be used and the Court is supposed to make a written finding if the guidelines are not being used within 2 percentage point.  The typical formula first looks at what the income for the recipient spouse( Marge) and what the cost of child care, health and dental and prior support orders is to her.  The guidelines examine how many children ( 3) Bart, Lisa and Maggie.  The guidelines then look at the GROSS income of the payer spouse, Homer and his cost for health, dental, child care costs minus any other support obligations.  So for example, if Marge is a stay at home Wife with no income or obligations and Homer made $1000 gross a week and pays $100 a week for Health and Dental then under the guidelines, Homer would pay Marge $284.  

There are reasons why the guidelines are not followed or are harder to determine   Figuring out income for those without w-2 earning, self employed individuals, overtime, bonuses, second jobs, different child sharing and so forth.  Looking at the Simpson's it appears to be that Homer has a pretty straightforward job but that both he and Marge have entrepreneurial spirit and how to figure out all of there additional income.

Generally, it would be up to Marge to choose if the money will be paid to DOR by Homer's attached check.  Other issues include who would claim the dependency exemptions for tax purposes.  Homer likely would becuase unless Marge makes a certain amount of money ( over $20,000) there is no benefit to her.  If she is making more money child support can be modified and parties can each claim one child and alternate one child.  There are questions when a child is emancipated along with college expenses( less likely for Bart) and extracurricular activities not directly related but to be examined.

In criminal law, a lot of people will tell you to plea bargain right away.  Even if you committed the crime, the state has the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and you are presumed to be innocent.

 There are a lot of factual and legal defenses you have.  You can ask that the case be dismissed due to lack of probable cause, citation not handled correctly, the stop and seizure being wrong, the statement being excluded.  You can also force the state to provide discovery and if they do not you can have the charges dismissed reduced or evidence excluded.  The alleged victim may have a spousal privilege or 5th amendment issue.  You can ask for a dismissal due to lack of a speedy trial and more.

 I do not mean never to plead out but be careful before assuming that you automatically need to plead out.  I have handled cases with these defense and had them dismissed or reduced.  I have had many cases dismissed due to witness testimony, lack of probable cause and more.  I had a 4th offense OUI reduced to 2nd by the court due to lack of compliance( client told by other attorney to plead out to jail time), a serious sex offense dismissed on my motion for lack of speedy trial, a variety of lack of probable cause cases and much more within the last year.

There are several areas that you should look for when hiring an attorney.  Here are 4 areas to focus on.

 1. Control-make sure you know who is calling the shots.  The attorney should make sure to discuss your role as the client versus the lawyers and that you are the one ultimately in control.

2.  Cost-  You should discuss the cost up front and make sure to have a fee agreement in writing.  This includes checking to see if the initial meeting is free or not.

Each week it seems like Homer has some plan to make money but ends up losing lots of money. It appears that the Simpsons would have a lot of debt with a moderate income. The families expenses would appear to be higher than the income. If the family qualifies, the family should file a chapter 7 that would allow the family to keep the home, keep retirement accounts and some other assets. Homer and Marge would no longer get harassing phone calls and letters. Their credit cards and other unsecured debt would be discharged. Bankruptcy is not a cartooinish process. It is for the honest but unfortunate debtor. The economy today has few safety nets and more and more people decide that bankruptcy is the only way to protect some assets and get a fresh start.

This is a guideline to work with a DCF worker:

 1.  Be polite- offer a water, seat etc.  This is obvious but can make a big difference.

 2.  Do not be hostile-  you can disagree with their conclusions and even attitude but realize they are going to be reporting back to their supervisors and court