The SJC upheld a conviction for secretly photographing a nude person and held that dissemination under § 105(c) requires sending the image to a third party.
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Attorney Joe Serpa has defended criminal cases in the Massachusetts District Courts and Boston Municipal Court since 1995. These posts cover Massachusetts criminal law as it is practiced. Mr. Serpa explains statutes, case law, court-by-court procedure, and how charges are defended and resolved. These pages are written for defendants, licensed professionals, students, tradespeople, and non-citizens who need to understand what a Massachusetts criminal charge means and what the defense options are.
The SJC upheld a conviction for secretly photographing a nude person and held that dissemination under § 105(c) requires sending the image to a third party.
Continue reading ›ICE has arrested and moved out of state people with pending Massachusetts criminal charges. The SJC is hearing three appeals on writs, missed trials, and dismissal.
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center This post is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It is based on published court decisions, the text of the statutes, public statements by New York officials, and news reporting. The Cornell allegations have not been proved in any court. The case…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center This post is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It is based on the civil complaint, public statements by Cornell University and New York officials, and published news reporting, including reporting on documents from Cornell’s Title IX investigation. The complaint’s allegations have…
Continue reading ›Judge William Sullivan held a hearing on the morning of September 29, 2026, in Plymouth Superior Court in the murder case against Lindsay Clancy. The hearing was the first since Judge Sullivan declared a mistrial on September 4, 2026. Judge Sullivan set arguments on the defense motion to dismiss for November 2. The Plymouth County…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center September 28, 2026 Shortly before 2 A.M., a Cambridge police officer walking through Harvard Square saw Shyam Khadgi striking a woman in the face and arms. The officer saw Khadgi strike her ten to fifteen times, hard enough to lift his own foot off the ground.…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center September 28, 2026 At about 1 A.M. on September 2, 2024, Boston police officers on patrol in Dorchester saw that the registration on an Acura sport utility vehicle had expired. The officers confirmed through their database that the registration was expired and non-renewable, activated their lights,…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center September 23, 2026 The Holyoke police chief denied Randy Westbrook a license to carry a firearm, pointing to charges filed more than a decade earlier that never led to a conviction. Westbrook asked a court to overturn the denial. The Supreme Judicial Court has now agreed…
Continue reading ›On September 4, 2026, a Plymouth County jury could not agree in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, and the judge declared a mistrial. In the two weeks since, reporting has turned to the lone holdout and to what he did or did not disclose before he was seated. A judge impounded the jury list…
Continue reading ›How prosecutors use automatic license plate reader data, what Commonwealth v. McCarthy requires, and how the defense challenges the search and the accuracy of the reads.
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