Articles Posted in Domestic Violence and Restraining Orders

Since September 18, 2024, a Massachusetts judge can issue a 209A abuse prevention order based on coercive control. This post explains the statutory definition, the three elements, the Appeals Court decisions, and the related criminal charges.

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.

A defendant may decline to testify at a hearing on a Massachusetts 209A restraining order (abuse prevention order) while a related domestic violence charge or investigation is pending. The civil judge may draw an adverse inference against a defendant who declines to testify. For the defendant, the harm that testifying at the hearing causes in…

Updated August 2026 A defendant arrested for domestic violence in Massachusetts can lose access to firearms long before the criminal charge is resolved. A temporary 209A restraining order can require immediate surrender of firearms, ammunition, and the license to carry under G.L. c. 209A, § 3B. The licensing authority can suspend the license on a…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 A complainant cannot drop a domestic violence charge in Massachusetts. Once the police file a complaint, the district attorney, not the complainant, decides whether the case proceeds. Recantation is common in Massachusetts domestic violence cases. Days or weeks after an…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 Massachusetts uses the word “harassment” in several distinct laws. Criminal harassment under M.G.L. c. 265, § 43A is a criminal charge. A 258E harassment prevention order is a civil remedy. Under the three-act ground in Chapter 258E, the plaintiff must…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 Prepared by Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 | Serpa Law Office, Boston and Quincy | Last Reviewed: August 2026 A Massachusetts domestic violence case begins with a criminal allegation, but it…

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 August 2026 A judge issues a harassment prevention order under G.L. c. 258E only on proof of a specific statutory definition of harassment. The Appeals Court has said outright that the statutory definition is much more exacting than the everyday…