Articles Posted in Domestic Violence and Restraining Orders

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense Massachusetts statutes require the court, upon a vacatur (dismissal, termination or non-extension) of a restraining order in Massachusetts to notify the appropriate law-enforcement agency and direct that agency to destroy “all records” of the vacated order. The relevant law enforcement…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense A dismissal is usually treated as a win, and in most respects it is: no conviction, no sentence, no admission. But in a Massachusetts domestic violence case, a dismissal is not the same as an acquittal, and the difference is…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense Defendants who defeat a restraining order often assume the record ended with the order. It did not, because every Massachusetts abuse prevention order under G.L. c. 209A and every harassment prevention order under G.L. c. 258E is recorded in the…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense On April 15, 2026, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued guidance directing Massachusetts schools to respond to AI-generated deepfake images and videos of students. The guidance arrived against a criminal framework the Legislature completed in 2024: St. 2024,…

Since September 18, 2024, Massachusetts defines abuse under G.L. c. 209A, § 1 to include coercive control. What the definition requires, the first appellate decision on it, and how the defense tests these claims.

How Massachusetts 209A extension hearings are decided: the plaintiff’s continuing burden, cross-examination, and the digital record. The Woburn result is the latest of many extension denials for this office.

That recording on your phone may be a felony. How Massachusetts courts treat secret recordings and Ring camera audio in domestic violence and 209A cases.

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense Updated July 2026 Most domestic violence complaints in Massachusetts are real, and I treat them that way. A smaller and very particular category is different. It appears when a marriage is ending, when custody is contested, and when a criminal…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense Massachusetts police responding to a domestic call operate under a preferred-arrest policy and must decide in minutes, at a chaotic scene, usually from two conflicting accounts and whatever is visible, a red mark, a torn shirt, who is crying, who…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense For a Massachusetts gun owner, a domestic violence arrest or a 209A order is a firearms case from the first hour, whatever else it is. The consequences arrive in layers, state licensing law, state surrender orders, and federal prohibitions, and…