Middlesex County

Attorney Stephen Neyman has been representing clients charged with drug crimes in Middlesex County and throughout Massachusetts. Attorney Neyman had represented hundreds of individuals charged with serious drug crimes in all courts throughout Middlesex County and is well known for his successful representation of individuals charged with drug crimes. Drug Crimes in Massachusetts face serve penalties and consequences which can result in mandatory minimum sentences, jail time or license suspicion. Also, convictions can impact an individual in regards to job or student application. If you have been charged with a drug crime, it is essential you hire an experienced Middlesex County Drug Crimes Lawyer as soon as possible.

Middlesex County is the most populated county in Massachusetts and all of New England. It has numerous Superior Courts as well as multiple District Courts located in- Concord, Ayer, Malden, Waltham, Cambridge, Woburn, Framingham, Lowell, Marlborough, Natick, Newton, and Somerville.

If you or a loved one is being investigation or has been charged with a drug crime it is vital that you contact Middlesex County Drug Crime Attorney Stephen Neyman immediately. He will get working on your case as soon as possible. Attorney Neyman has been involved in countless drug crime cases in Middlesex County and will work with you and your loved ones on the best possible strategy to achieve a successful outcome.

A well-known Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case occurred in Middlesex County, in the city of Lowell. In Commonwealth v. Morales, 462 Mass. 334 (2012), the court inquired into whether a strip search of a suspect, on the side of the road after a motor vehicle stop, was reasonable under the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. The suspects were being surveilled by the Lowell Police department for suspicion of distributing heroin. During the police officers observations, an officer pulled over the defendant and observed him leaning over to his right with his hand under his torso trying to conceal an item. During the pat frisk of the defendant, the officer noticed the defendant moved away and clenched his buttocks when the officer was pat frisking the area around his shorts. After moving the defendant into a more secluded area near a house, a fight broke out between the defendant and the police officer, resulting in the defendant being face down on the ground in handcuffs. While on the ground, the defendant tried to reach down into his shorts, and in response, the Lowell Police Detective grabbed the defendant’s hand and removed it. The officer proceeded to pull back the waist band of the defendant’s shorts, exposing the defendant’s buttocks to public view, and retrieved the bag of drugs from between the defendant buttocks. The defendant was charged with possession of a Class A controlled substance (Heroin) with intent to distribute, as well as other charges.

The Morales Court held that the search constituted a strip search of the defendant and was unreasonable due to the location of where it took place and manner in which it was conducted and therefore, the evidence of the drugs found between the defendants buttocks were suppressed. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reasoned that a strip search means a search in which the detainee is commanded to remove the last layer of his or her clothing in such a manner whereby an intimate area of the detainee is viewed, exposed or displayed. Here, the detective’s action of lifting back the waist band of the defendant was a strip search because his buttocks was publicly exposed.

Additionally, the Court stated that for a strip search, the location of the search and the manner in which it was conducted needs to be reasonable. The Morals Court listed certain factors to be considers such as, the preference that it is conducted in a private room, that no one other than the investigating officer should be allowed to view the person being search, that the same gender of the officer and the suspect should be used while conducting the search, and to consider the potential harm to the suspect’s health and dignity. Here, the defendant was not in a private room but was face down on a public sidewalk, surrounded by four officers. Also, the strip search was conducted after the cop determined it was not a weapon, and there was no concern that the defendant could have used it against the officers. Therefore, no exigency existed and because of this the defendant should have been transported to a private space or location. The strip search was found to be unreasonable and the evidence from the search was suppressed.

Middlesex County Drug Crimes Attorney Stephen Neyman has over 20 years’ experience dealing with motor vehicles stops of this kinds. Also, Attorney Neyman has dealt with numerous motions to suppress in relation to unreasonable searches and seizures, like how the strip search was conducted in this case. After being charged with a drug crime in Massachusetts, it is vital that you contact an experienced drug crime lawyer. Attorney Neyman will challenged every aspect of the criminal investigation and make sure that the police investigation was completely lawful and it did not violate any of your rights.

The Law Office of Stephen Neyman, P.C. is located and downtown Boston. He is available to take calls 24/7, any day of the week. Feel free to contact him at 617-263-6800 or send him an email through his website. He will get to work for you immediately.