Attorney Joe Serpa has defended criminal cases in the Massachusetts District Courts and Boston Municipal Court for thirty years. These posts cover Massachusetts criminal law as it is actually 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.
By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense A notice to appear for a clerk-magistrate hearing in Massachusetts arrives by mail. It is not an arrest. It is not a conviction. It is not yet a formal criminal charge. It is something more useful than any of those…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense An OUI arrest in Massachusetts initiates a sequence of events that moves quickly and has consequences that extend well beyond the criminal case. Two entirely separate proceedings begin simultaneously, one in the criminal court and one at the Registry of…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney Joe Serpa maintains a perfect record of not guilty verdicts in OUI jury trials in the Massachusetts District Courts and Boston Municipal Court. That record was built over thirty years in courtrooms across Eastern Massachusetts. This post explains how…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense A Massachusetts domestic violence arrest follows a sequence that has been established by statute and refined by police and prosecutor policy over the past two decades. The sequence is predictable. How a case resolves favorably depends on the specific charges,…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joseph Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense A significant evidentiary question in Massachusetts domestic violence cases frequently arises not from what happened during the incident but from what happens at trial when the complainant does not appear. When the complainant invokes the marital privilege, declines to cooperate,…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense June 2026 For years, Massachusetts was one of the only states in the country without a specific criminal statute prohibiting the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images. Victims had limited options — civil lawsuits they had to fund themselves, criminal harassment…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joseph Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense June 2026 You received a notice in the mail or a call from your Probation Officer. You are being surrendered for a probation violation. Or perhaps you were arrested on a new charge and you know that a surrender warrant…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joseph Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense June 2026 A social media follower who comments on a public figure’s posts. A fan who approaches a television personality at a road race and asks for a photograph. A person who emails a professional team requesting to attend an…
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By Attorney Joseph Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense In 2025 and 2026, the enforcement environment for non-citizens in Massachusetts changed profoundly. Federal immigration enforcement intensified nationally, SEVIS terminations for international students accelerated, and the State Department began revoking visas after criminal arrests far more aggressively. A non-citizen who…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joseph Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense June 2026 An arrest in Massachusetts initiates a sequence of procedural events that moves faster than most people expect. Under Massachusetts law, a person who has been taken into custody must be brought before a judge “without unnecessary delay” —…
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