What to Do in the First 24 Hours After an Arrest in Massachusetts

By Attorney Joseph Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense

June 2026

An arrest in Massachusetts sets off a sequence of procedural events that moves faster than most people expect. Under Massachusetts law, a person taken into custody must be brought before a court for arraignment at the court’s next session, which in practice means within about 24 hours or on the next business day. The decisions made during that window, together with the actions taken or avoided in the hours immediately after an arrest, have a direct and often determinative effect on the outcome of the case. This analysis sets out, in the order they occur, the stages of the Massachusetts criminal process and what an accused person must and must not do at each one.

Many of these matters can be resolved well before trial. See how criminal cases get dismissed in Massachusetts.

Step 1: The Arrest and Your Immediate Rights

A Massachusetts arrest is lawful only if the arresting officer has probable cause to believe the person committed a crime. An officer who makes a warrantless arrest in a public place for a misdemeanor generally must have witnessed the offense, subject to limited statutory exceptions. A warrantless arrest at a private residence requires exigent circumstances. An arrest that lacks probable cause is itself a constitutional violation and can provide grounds to suppress evidence obtained as a result.

At the moment of arrest, two constitutional protections become immediately operative. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights protect the accused from being compelled to make self-incriminating statements. The Sixth Amendment and Article 12 guarantee the right to counsel. These rights are not automatic in their operation. They must be affirmatively invoked.

The correct response to any police questioning, whether at the scene, in the cruiser, or at the station, is a single clear statement. Say the words “I am invoking my right to remain silent and I want to speak with a lawyer,” and say nothing further. Officers are legally permitted to continue speaking to an arrested person, to make representations about leniency, and to present a narrative of the evidence against them. None of it requires a response. Under Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370 (2010), silence alone does not amount to an invocation of the right. The invocation must be explicit.

Step 2: Booking at the Police Station

After transport to the station, the accused is processed through booking, a standard administrative procedure that creates the formal arrest record. Booking involves fingerprinting, photographing, and the collection of basic identifying information. A property receipt should be issued for any personal belongings held.

Massachusetts law under M.G.L. c. 276, § 33A governs the arrested person’s right to use the telephone. The officer in charge of the station must inform the arrested person of that right immediately upon arrival, and the statute requires that the person be permitted to use the telephone within one hour of arrival. The call may be used to contact family or friends, to arrange release on bail, or to engage an attorney. This right is enforceable and should be exercised at once to reach a criminal defense lawyer.

The advisement of rights that many people associate with arrest comes from a different source. Before any custodial questioning, Miranda v. Arizona requires police to advise the arrested person of the right to remain silent and the right to counsel, including appointed counsel for anyone who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. In Massachusetts, a defendant found to be indigent is represented through the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Those protections are separate from the telephone statute, and each of them should be asserted.

Two critical warnings apply at the booking stage. First, telephone calls from a Massachusetts police station are routinely recorded. Every statement made on those calls, whether to family members, to friends, or about the facts of the arrest, is potentially available to the prosecution. Discuss nothing about the facts of the case on a recorded line. Second, conversations with other persons in the booking area or holding cell are not protected. Statements made to other detainees have been used as evidence against defendants.

Digital devices call for the same discipline. If police ask for access to a smartphone or computer, the answer is no. Under Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014), law enforcement must obtain a warrant before searching the digital contents of a seized phone. Providing a passcode voluntarily surrenders that protection, and it cannot be recovered once the device has been searched. Our full analysis appears in Digital Search Warrants in Massachusetts.

Some arrests involve additional booking steps. An arrest for operating under the influence, for instance, ordinarily includes a breath test and carries its own set of license consequences, which we cover in what happens after an OUI arrest in Massachusetts.

Step 3: Bail Determination

Following booking, a bail commissioner may review the case and set bail under M.G.L. c. 276, § 58. The bail commissioner’s function is limited to fixing the conditions under which the accused may be released pending arraignment. The commissioner does not adjudicate the underlying charge.

Section 58 builds in a presumption favoring release. The statute directs that a person be admitted to bail on personal recognizance without surety unless the official determines that release will not reasonably assure the person’s appearance in court. A bail commissioner who comes to the station after court hours may charge the statutory fee set by M.G.L. c. 262, § 24. As of 2024 that fee is $80, and it is paid by the Trial Court rather than by the arrested person.

The factors a bail commissioner weighs include the seriousness of the charge, the accused’s prior criminal record, ties to the community, employment status, and the risk of flight. For most first-time misdemeanor arrests, release on personal recognizance without cash bail is available. For more serious charges, and particularly for domestic violence offenses, the accused may face high bail or a hold for the next court session.

Certain serious charges expose a defendant to detention on grounds of dangerousness. Under M.G.L. c. 276, § 58A, the Commonwealth may move at arraignment for a dangerousness hearing, and for the offenses the statute enumerates, including many domestic violence and weapons charges, a judge may order the defendant held without bail. Detention requires a finding by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person or the community. A hold under § 58A may last up to 120 days in the district court and up to 180 days in the superior court. An arrested person facing this kind of charge needs counsel before the hearing, not after.

An arrested person who is not released is brought to the applicable District Court or Boston Municipal Court for arraignment at the court’s next session, as Massachusetts Rule of Criminal Procedure 7 requires. When the arrest was made without a warrant, the Supreme Judicial Court held in Jenkins v. Chief Justice of the District Court Department, 416 Mass. 221 (1993), that Article 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights requires a judicial determination of probable cause within a reasonably prompt time, and it set an outer limit of 24 hours. A weekend arrest can still mean a hold until Monday. An attorney retained before arraignment can appear and argue for the most favorable bail conditions at that hearing.

Step 4: The Arraignment, the Most Consequential Administrative Event in a Massachusetts Criminal Case

The arraignment is the first formal court appearance. It is not a trial and no evidence is presented. Its function is threefold. The court formally reads the charges, the accused enters a plea, and the judge addresses bail and any conditions of release.

The arraignment carries one consequence that most defendants do not grasp until it is too late. The moment the judge calls the case, the charge is permanently entered onto the defendant’s public Criminal Offender Record Information, known as CORI. This entry is created regardless of how the case ultimately resolves. Even a charge that is dismissed after months of litigation, or a verdict of not guilty at trial, generates a CORI entry that remains visible on background checks for years, until it becomes eligible for sealing or expungement.

This is why the clerk-magistrate hearing is so strategically valuable. It is available for most misdemeanor offenses in which the police did not make a warrantless arrest. A case resolved at the clerk-magistrate stage, before arraignment, generates no CORI entry of any kind, and the matter stays off the public record. For students, licensed professionals, and anyone for whom a criminal record carries severe collateral consequences, retaining counsel before arraignment, and ideally before the clerk-magistrate hearing, is not optional. It is essential. Our Massachusetts clerk-magistrate hearing FAQs answer the questions that come up most often at this stage.

At arraignment, the correct plea in virtually every case is not guilty. A not-guilty plea preserves every option, including the ability to negotiate with prosecutors, to file motions, to seek dismissal, and to proceed to trial. It is not an admission of anything, and it does not prevent a later resolution by agreement. An attorney will enter this plea on the defendant’s behalf.

Step 5: The Pre-Trial Phase, Where Defenses Are Built

After arraignment, the case enters the pre-trial phase, the period during which the real work of a criminal defense occurs. The defense attorney obtains discovery, meaning the prosecution’s evidence. That evidence includes police reports, witness statements, surveillance footage, dispatch records, forensic reports, and any exculpatory material the Commonwealth must disclose under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and its Massachusetts progeny.

The pre-trial phase is also when motions are filed. A motion to suppress challenges evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, whether through an illegal search or seizure, a defective warrant, an unlawful stop, or a coerced statement. If the motion is granted, the evidence is excluded from trial. In many cases, suppression of the key evidence leads to dismissal of the charges entirely, because the prosecution cannot proceed without it.

Pre-trial conferences are scheduled at regular intervals. These are the forums in which plea negotiations occur. The Commonwealth may offer a Continuance Without a Finding (CWOF), pretrial probation, or a reduced charge. Whether to accept any offer is a decision that belongs to the defendant, made with the benefit of full legal advice about the strength of the evidence, the likelihood of success at trial, and the collateral consequences of each option.

What You Must Do in the First 24 Hours: A Clear Checklist

The steps below distill three decades of practice into a short list. Our companion guide on what to do if you are arrested in Massachusetts walks through the same decisions in more detail.

• Invoke your right to remain silent out loud. The words that work are “I am invoking my right to remain silent. I want a lawyer.” Then stop talking.
• Do not consent to any search of your person beyond a pat-down, or of your vehicle, your home, or your phone. Tell the officers plainly that you do not consent to any searches.
• Do not provide your phone passcode under any circumstances. Under Riley v. California, police need a warrant to search your phone’s contents.
• Make your phone call to a criminal defense attorney as soon as you are permitted to do so under M.G.L. c. 276, § 33A.
• Do not discuss the facts of your case on any recorded police station telephone line.
• Do not discuss the facts of your case with other persons in the booking area or holding cell.
• Do not attempt to contact the complainant or any witness, even to explain or apologize. Contact with a complainant before arraignment can result in additional charges.
• If you are released, preserve all evidence you can, including photographs of any relevant locations or injuries, the names and contact information of any witnesses, and any communications relevant to the incident.

What Not To Do After Arrest: The Mistakes That Harm Cases

The most consequential errors in Massachusetts criminal cases are made not in the courtroom but in the first hours after an arrest. These are the patterns that experienced defense attorneys see repeatedly.

Attempting to explain your version of events to the police. Officers conducting a post-arrest investigation are not neutral fact-finders. Their role at this stage is to build a case for the prosecution. A statement that is intended to exculpate frequently contains admissions that establish the elements of the charged offense. The right to remain silent exists precisely because the legal system recognizes how often honest, truthful statements by innocent people are used against them.

Posting about the incident on social media. Social media posts made after an arrest are discoverable and have been used as evidence at trial. That includes expressions of frustration, messages to friends, and statements that appear unrelated to the incident. Lock down every social media account and post nothing.

Contacting the complaining witness. In domestic violence cases, restraining order matters, and any case involving a named complainant, contact with that person before arraignment can result in additional charges. That is true of calls, texts, emails, and messages passed through third parties. If a 209A order is already in effect, any contact is itself a separate criminal offense. In a domestic violence arrest the complainant can obtain an emergency 209A abuse prevention order within hours, sometimes from an on-call judge after court has closed.

Assuming the case will resolve itself. A criminal charge in Massachusetts does not evaporate without intervention. The District Attorney’s Office independently controls the prosecution, and the decision to charge or not charge does not belong to the complainant. Even cases in which the complaining witness expresses a desire not to prosecute frequently proceed to trial on the strength of police observations, 911 recordings, and other physical evidence.

Special Considerations for Licensed Professionals and Students

For licensed professionals, a Massachusetts criminal arrest carries consequences that reach well beyond the criminal case itself. This group includes attorneys, physicians, nurses, engineers, financial advisors, contractors, and others who hold state-issued licenses. Licensing boards, among them the Board of Registration in Medicine, the Board of Bar Overseers, and the Division of Professional Licensure, may open independent administrative proceedings on notice of a criminal charge. In some cases, a suspension or emergency restriction of the license can be imposed before the criminal case is resolved.

For university students, a criminal arrest in Greater Boston triggers a parallel proceeding through the university’s Office of Student Conduct or Dean of Students. Campus disciplinary proceedings operate under the lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard rather than the criminal “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard. A student can be suspended or expelled on the basis of a campus proceeding even if the criminal charge is later dismissed. Coordination between the criminal defense and the campus proceeding is essential and must begin immediately.

Where Will Your Case Be Heard?

Massachusetts criminal cases are heard in the District Courts and the Boston Municipal Court (for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies) or the Superior Court (for serious felonies). The court that hears your case depends on the location of the alleged offense and the severity of the charge.

The specific court matters. Clerk-magistrates, judges, and prosecutors vary significantly across jurisdictions. Cambridge District Court, for example, handles a disproportionate volume of cases involving Harvard and MIT students and Kendall Square professionals, and its culture reflects that constituency. Quincy District Court handles the South Shore and has its own established norms. An attorney with deep familiarity with the specific court where your case is pending holds a significant advantage over one who practices across the state without local roots.

Key Takeaways

• An arrest in Massachusetts leads to arraignment at the court’s next session, in practice within about 24 hours or on the next business day. The arraignment permanently enters the charge onto the defendant’s public CORI record, regardless of how the case ultimately resolves.
• The right to remain silent and the right to counsel must be affirmatively invoked. Saying “I am invoking my right to remain silent and I want a lawyer” is the only statement that should be made to police.
• Telephone calls from a Massachusetts police station are recorded. Do not discuss the facts of your case on a station telephone line or with other persons in the booking area.
• Under Riley v. California, police must obtain a warrant to search a phone’s digital contents. Do not provide a passcode or consent to a device search.
• For most misdemeanor offenses where police did not make a warrantless arrest, a clerk-magistrate (Show Cause) hearing is available before arraignment. Winning at this stage means no CORI entry of any kind is created. This is the single most valuable procedural opportunity in Massachusetts criminal law.
• Licensed professionals and university students face collateral consequences, including licensing board proceedings and campus disciplinary proceedings, that operate independently of the criminal case and may move faster. Both must be addressed from the moment of arrest.
• Do not contact the complaining witness for any reason. Any contact before arraignment, even to apologize, can result in additional charges and will be used against the defendant at every later stage.

I am available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you or someone you know has been arrested anywhere in Eastern Massachusetts, contact me immediately at 617.936.0201. The first consultation is free.

Related Serpa Law Office Resources

• Greater Boston and Massachusetts Criminal Case FAQs
• The Complete Guide to Massachusetts Clerk-Magistrate Hearings
• A Practitioner’s Guide to Massachusetts Clerk-Magistrate Hearings