2022 Case results

While we are hopefully getting closer to resuming jury trials in due course, here are some of our recent, successful final outcomes in 2022 for our clients, in chronological order (most recent first):

December 6, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- West Roxbury Division
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Boston Police Department applied for criminal complaints against 11 Northeastern University students, all members of a particular fraternity, for charges of Keeping a Disorderly House, Providing Alcohol to Minors, and Receiving Stolen Property. BPD arrived at the fraternity house after numerous complaints of a large party, where they observed underage drinking and stolen BPD barricades and signs posted up in the living room. The entire fraternity hired Urbelis Law.
RESULT: After a full clerk magistrate’s hearing, the clerk declined to issue any criminal complaints against any of the gentlemen. Their records all remain clean.

November 30, 2022
Cambridge District Court
CHARGES: Operating to endanger, Operating without a license. Our client was an undocumented immigrant, in the process of applying for permanent residency (green card) after marrying his U.S. citizen wife. He was charged with these offenses after a car accident in which he drove onto private property, causing damage. Any admission (CWOF) or conviction would have prevented him from obtaining a green card, and led to deportation proceedings. RESULT: We were able to resolve this case with a general continuance of 1 year; no admission. As long as our client completes a 1- day safe driving course and stays out of trouble for 1 year, the case will end in a dismissal, and he will still qualify for his green card.

November 16, 2022
Wrentham District Court
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Wrentham Police Department applied for criminal charges against our client after she and her vehicle were captured on video at the Wrentham Outlets, participating in a shoplifting scheme.
RESULT: After a full clerk magistrate’s hearing, the application for a criminal complaint against our client was denied.

November 15, 2022
Haverhill District Court
CHARGES: Operating Under the Influence of Drugs, 3rd Offense; Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle. Our client was charged with operating under the influence of inhalants. He was arrested after driving over a construction cone, pulled out of the car with a white substance around his nose, a “dust off” can in his passenger seat, and failing all of the field sobriety tests. He hired Urbelis Law. We filed motions relating to the government’s inability to prove impairment, due to failures in its investigation, and the motions were allowed.
RESULT: All charges dismissed.

November 8, 2022
Waltham District Court
CHARGE: Malicious Destruction of Property (felony). Our client was involved in a “road rage” incident while in a state- issued department vehicle. He tracked down the other driver’s car, spray painted it, and was caught on video. When questioned by police, he admitted to doing this, and suggested that he “probably needs anger management.” He was arrested and faced prosecution by the Middlesex DA’s office.
RESULT: We were eventually able to resolve with case without any conviction, and without even any formal admission. Our client was ordered to pay the $500 deductible for the damage, attend an anger management class, and the case will ultimately end after “pretrial probation” with an outright dismissal.

October 21, 2022
Dedham District Court
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Needham Police applied for a criminal complaint against our client for operating an uninsured and unregistered motor vehicle, while driving almost twice the legal limit. Our client is a student at Babson College, here on a student visa from Shanghai. He had great concerns that if the court issued a criminal complaint against him (which never disappears, regardless of the final outcome of the case) it would cause him immigration problems in renewing his student visa.
RESULT: After a clerk magistrate’s hearing, the court declined to issue a criminal complaint against our client, his record remains clean, and this matter will have no impact on his student visa.

October 6, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- Brighton Division
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Boston Police Department applied for a complaint against our client on the charge of minor in possession of alcohol. Police were surveilling a liquor store in a college neighborhood. Our client was observed standing outside of the liquor store, and another young man coming out of the store, handing our client a case of booze. Police approached both men, and learned that our client was only 19 years old. He was a college student, and any formal criminal complaint against him, even if later dismissed, would have been on his permanent record.
RESULT: After a clerk magistrate’s hearing, the police’s application for a complaint was denied, and our client’s record remains clean.

September 28, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- East Boston Division
CHARGES: Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon; Assault and Battery on a Family/ Household Member. RESULT: Both charges dismissed.

September 8, 2022
Haverhill District Court
CHARGES: OUI- Drugs 4th Offense; Poss w/ Intent to Distribute Class B (amended from trafficking class B); Possession Class C; Possession Class E (three counts); OUI while license suspended for previous OUI; motor vehicle operator refusal to identify self; negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
RESULT: After a lengthy battle in court, and through numerous motions and litigation, the court eventually granted our motion to
DISMISS ALL CHARGES, based on numerous legal grounds, over the objection of the prosecution.

August 10, 2022
Lynn District Court
CHARGE: Sexual Conduct for a Fee (Prostitution). We were able to demonstrate and convince the district attorney’s office that our client was the victim of a sex trafficking operation, rather than a criminal.
RESULT: Nolle Prosequi (outright dismissal).

August 3, 2022.
Malden District Court
CHARGE: Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol. At trial, a witness testified that our client was traveling at a high rate of speed on the highway, swerving in and out of lanes, apparently racing another vehicle. Our client then flipped his own car, crashing against the guardrails, fortunately without any injuries. When state police arrived, they testified that our client smelled like an alcoholic beverage, slurred his speech, and was unable to follow simple directions, failing the field sobriety tests on the side of the road. He was placed under arrest for operating under the influence.
RESULT: At trial, we were able to establish that our client, a Brazil- native, barely spoke any English, and the state trooper failed to note the language barrier in his report whatsoever. Fortunately, we were able to obtain the trooper’s body camera video footage, and argue that the “failure to follow directions” was not due to impairment, but rather due to his lack of comprehension- all consistent with the video footage. Our client was found NOT GUILTY, which was especially important as a conviction to this offense would have triggered removal/ deportation proceedings.

July 29, 2022
Plymouth Probate and Family Court
APPLICATION FOR 209A (RESTRAINING ORDER): Our client’s ex- wife applied for a restraining order against our client in 2020. The court granted that order. In 2021, she applied to have the order extended for another year. Our client was very disappointed in the representation he received from his lawyer at each of those hearings; he felt that the plaintiff’s (his wife’s) lawyer was much more effective. So this time, he hired Urbelis Law. This restraining order was causing our client’s visitation with his now 10 year old daughter to always be supervised and drop offs/ pick ups were required to be done at the police station. Our client was very concerned that if she began to knowing nothing other than this arrangement, his daughter would start view him as a “criminal” who couldn’t even see his her except with the police babysitting him. without such an arrangement. Our client believed that his ex- wife was only doing this for leverage in their highly- contested divorce proceedings.
RESULT: After the hearing, in which the plaintiff and her attorney presented the same evidence as at the previous two hearings, we were able to have the order terminated that same day. Our client is no longer to subject to any of the order’s conditions, and he can now have a normal relationship with his daughter.

July 21, 2022
Quincy District Court
CHARGE: Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle. Our client was arrested after driving his car into a public utility pole, which snapped the pole in half and caused a power outage to the neighborhood.
RESULT: We were eventually able to have this case dismissed for our client upon his completion of a one- day safe driving class.

June 28, 2022
Quincy District Court
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Weymouth Police Department applied for a criminal complaint against our client for Assault and Battery on a Family/ Household Member.
RESULT: After a full clerk magistrate’s hearing, no complaint issued against our client, and her record remains clean.

June 23, 2022
Quincy District Court
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: Our client was involved in a 2- car motor vehicle accident. Witness interviews and a police accident reconstruction determine that our client was operating approximately 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, rear- ending another vehicle and causing that vehicle to flip onto its side, with the occupants being rushed to the hospital. Milton Police applied for a criminal complaint on the charge of operating to endanger against our client, who then hired Urbelis Law.
RESULT: After a full clerk magistrate’s hearing, the clerk declined to issue a criminal complaint against our client, and he was not charged with any crime.

May 31, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- Central Division
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: Our client was a registered nurse. She was involved in a fender- bender, and allegedly fled the scene. After a Massachusetts State Police investigation, law enforcement applied for a criminal complaint against our client for leaving the scene of property damage. At the time, our client had no prior record and was applying to graduate school to become a nurse anesthetist. If a complaint issued and the case was referred to the district attorney’s office for prosecution, it would show up on any background check and might have completely derailed her educational and professional plans.
RESULT: After a full clerk magistrate’s hearing, the magistrate declined to issue a complaint, and our client’s record remains clean.

May 25, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- East Boston Division
MOTION TO VACATE PLEA AND FOR NEW TRIAL: Our client was an El Salvadorian immigrant. In 2017, he was charged with criminal offenses and appointed a public defender. The public defender advised him to plead guilty, which he did. In 2022, he was eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), to become a legal resident here in the United States, EXCEPT for the criminal offense to which he pled guilty in 2017, upon the advice of his public defender. His immigration lawyer referred him to Urbelis Law. Upon our investigation, we determined that the public defender committed serious errors, and failed to pursue significant legal defenses. We filed a motion to vacate the guilty plea based upon the failure of the public defender to provide competent representation, which led to our client being at risk for deportation.
RESULT: The court granted our motion to vacate the guilty plea. When the case was put back on the trial track, the district attorney’s office was unable to proceed, and the case was dismissed. Our client was then eligible for TPS status in immigration court.

May 12, 2022
Framingham District Court
CHARGE: Our client was charged with indecent assault and battery (felony; a conviction requires sex offender registration). Our client and his wife had a female friend over (alleged victim) for a night of drinking and celebrating. At trial, she alleged said that her plan was to spend the night, and she brought an overnight bag. She alleged that she woke up in the guest room in the middle of the night to our client laying behind her, spooning her, licking her face, and putting his hand down her underwear, rubbing her vagina. Her sister also testified as a “first complaint” witness, having been the first person the alleged victim told of this alleged sexual assault. Our client voluntary went to the station and gave a 40 minute interview with police (who also testified at trial), after which he was arrested. He hired Urbelis Law. Attorney Urbelis conducted a vigorous cross examination of all witnesses at trial, pointing out inconsistencies in their stories and actions after the alleged offense. After the evidence was presented at trial, we requested that in addition to instructing the jury on indecent assault and battery, that the jury also be instructed on the lesser- misdemeanor offense of simple assault and battery; a request allowed by the judge. Our strategy was that we believed our best chance of avoiding a conviction on the indecent assault and battery charge would be by giving the jury an opportunity to hook our client on something, rather than the jury feeling that they were letting him completely off the hook.
JURY VERDICT: Our strategy worked. The jury found our client NOT GUILTY of indecent assault and battery (no felony conviction, no sex offender registry, no jail time), and guilty of misdemeanor simple assault and battery. He received one year of probation.

May 5, 2022
Waltham District Court
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL CHARGES: Our two clients were Bentley University undergraduate students. The police had been called to their house on numerous occasions for out of control parties, with hundreds of people, and often underage students who’d be rushed to the hospital for binge drinking at these parties. The The Waltham Police Department had enough, and applied for criminal charges against our clients for Keeping a Disorderly House. If a complaint issued, they’ve have been prosecuted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, and regardless of whether the case was eventually dismissed it would always appear on their record. They hired Urbelis Law, knowing that their professional futures were at stake.
RESULT: After a clerk magistrate’s hearing, no criminal complaint issued against either client.

April 28, 2022
Lynn District Court
CHARGE: Breaking and Entering at Nighttime with intent to commit a felony.
RESULT: Case dismissed.

April 26, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- West Roxbury Division
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Boston Police Applied for a criminal complaint against our client, a student at Northeastern University, for Keeping a Noisy and Disorderly House.
RESULT: After the magistrate’s hearing, the clerk magistrate agreed that there was a lack of probable cause to charge our client, and the complaint application was denied.

April 15, 2022
Plymouth District Court
CHARGES: Assault and Battery on a Family/ Household Member, Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon. RESULT: Both charges dismissed.

March 4, 2022
Milford District Court
CHARGES: Leaving the Scene of Property Damage, Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle. Our client’s greatest concern in this case was that any admission, CWOF, or conviction would have led to the suspension of his Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), which would lead to him losing his job.
RESULT: We were able to resolve this matter with pretrial probation, without any admission. This case will be dismissed outright in 6 months, and our client will not lose his CDL.

March 3, 2022
Lynn District Court
CHARGES: Operating Under the Influence, Operating without a License.
RESULT: Both charges dismissed.

February 8, 2022
Brockton District Court
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: Keeper of a Noisy and Disorderly House.
RESULT: Application denied; no complaint issued.

February 1, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- West Roxbury
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Boston Police applied for a criminal complaint against our client and his roommates for a noisy and disorderly party, with over 100 people inside and outside a small apartment, several of whom appeared underage. Our client would soon be graduating with a degree in electrical engineering, with hopes of working for NASA, and the issuance of any criminal complaint could have effected his ability to be so- employed.
RESULT: After a full clerk magistrate’s hearing, no complaint issued against our client.

January 25, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- West Roxbury
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Boston Police applied for a criminal complaint, alleging numerous crimes against our client and his roommates (all undergraduate college students), for two disorderly house parties, one of which included allegations of spiked punch being served to females, leading to one allegation of sexual assault. Our client absolutely denied knowledge of any spiked punch, and we showed that nothing could be traced back to him as an individual. Further, since the party, in order to avoid being caught up in any further trouble at this house, our client moved out, before our hearing on this application.
RESULT: After a full clerk magistrate’s hearing, no complaint issued against our client.

January 20, 2022
Westborough District Court
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: Permitting an unlicensed operator to drive motor vehicle.
RESULT: Application denied.

January 18, 2022
Boston Municipal Court- Central
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Boston Police Department applied for a criminal complaint against our client for the charge of Assault and Battery. Police responded to a bar in downtown Boston where a man alleged that our client had struck him multiple times; the man had bruises on his face.
RESULT: After our clerk magistrate’s hearing, the clerk declined to issue any criminal complaint against our client.

January 12, 2022
Dudley District Court
CHARGE: Leaving the Scene of Property Damage. Our client was charged after his truck allegedly struck another vehicle, causing $5,000.00 worth of damage, and our client fled the scene. Our client’s greatest concerns was that as a non- citizen, any admission or conviction could leave him with significant immigration consequences.
RESULT: We were able to get a general continuance of 3 months (no admission or CWOF, so no effect on his immigration status, and no license loss), and once our client’s insurance covered the damage, the case was dismissed.

January 11, 2022
Brockton Juvenile Court
CHARGES: Our client was arrested on a warrant for 3 counts of RAPE and 1 count of assault and battery. Our client maintained his innocence.
RESULT: After the court’s allowance of our numerous pretrial discovery motions, we uncovered significant exculpatory evidence. It became undoubtedly clear to everyone, and most importantly to the government, that our client and the alleged victim had engaged in 100% consensual sexual activity. ALL CHARGES WERE DISMISSED.
January 10, 2022Haverhill District Court
APPLICATION FOR CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: The Haverhill Police Department applied for a criminal complaint against our client, for charges of Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault and Battery on a Household Member.
RESULT: After a clerk magistrate’s hearing, no probable cause was found to issue the charges, and the application was denied (no charges issued).