Boston’s Criminal
Defense Lawyer
Defense Lawyer
Boston Municipal Court Charlestown Division Criminal Defense Attorney
A person arrested or summoned to court in Charlestown faces a criminal case in the Charlestown Division of the Boston Municipal Court, at 3 City Square, Charlestown, MA 02129. The division hears the cases from the Charlestown Navy Yard, Bunker Hill Community College, and the roads into the neighborhood from the Tobin Bridge and Rutherford Avenue.
- Clerk’s office: 617.242.5400
- Clerk’s fax: 617.242.1677
- Probation department: 617.242.1230
- Probation fax: 617.242.2117
- Clerk’s email: bmccharlestown@jud.state.ma.us
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office prosecutes every criminal case in the Boston Municipal Court. The Commonwealth prosecutes a felony beyond the court’s final jurisdiction in the Suffolk Superior Court, at 3 Pemberton Square in Boston, after a grand jury indicts the defendant. The firm’s Boston Municipal Court guide explains what the court can and cannot decide, and the firm’s guide to each stage of a BMC criminal case explains what happens from the clerk-magistrate hearing through trial.
Attorney Joe Serpa has practiced Massachusetts criminal defense since 1995. He represents clients in the Charlestown Division at arraignments, clerk-magistrate hearings, motion hearings, and jury trials, from the firm’s Boston office at 20 Park Plaza, Suite 400A. Call 617.936.0201.
The Charlestown Division of the Boston Municipal Court hears criminal cases from the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. The courthouse is near the Bunker Hill Monument. The Charlestown Division is a small court, and each case receives individual attention. For that reason, Attorney Serpa prepares documents about the client and the facts before the first court date. These documents are especially useful for a defendant whose professional license, school enrollment, or immigration status depends on the outcome of the case. The firm’s Boston Municipal Court page describes the full court system.
Many Charlestown cases are resolved before trial. The firm’s page on how criminal cases get dismissed in Massachusetts explains when the prosecutor or a judge can dismiss a case.
Attorney Joe Serpa has practiced Massachusetts criminal defense since 1995. He has defended cases in the Boston Municipal Court and in the District Courts throughout Greater Boston.
The Charlestown Neighborhood
Charlestown covers about one square mile. Many Charlestown families are Irish-American and have lived in the neighborhood for generations. Other residents moved to Charlestown after the redevelopment of the Charlestown Navy Yard, where former shipyard buildings became condominiums and waterfront apartments. Many of these newer residents are young professionals and young families. Both groups live on the same small grid of streets, and cases involving both groups are heard in the same court.
The Charlestown Division hears domestic violence cases from apartments and condominiums, disorderly conduct cases from the bars on Main Street, and motor vehicle cases from the Tobin Bridge approaches and Rutherford Avenue. Attorney Serpa obtained the dismissal of an OUI charge in this division. The firm’s results page describes the case.
The Bunker Hill housing development is a large public housing development in Charlestown. Residents of the development appear in this court on many kinds of cases. Thousands of students attend Bunker Hill Community College, at the edge of the neighborhood. The same charge can have different consequences for a public housing resident, a student, and a professional, and Attorney Serpa considers those consequences in every case.
Motor Vehicle Cases From the Tobin Bridge, the Zakim Bridge, and Rutherford Avenue
The Tobin Bridge, the approaches to the Zakim Bridge, and I-93 pass through Charlestown. Many of the division’s OUI and license cases begin with State Police stops on these roads. Rutherford Avenue connects the bridge ramps to the neighborhood. Many drivers stopped on Rutherford Avenue are commuters who do not live in Charlestown, and many of them have never been in a courtroom before.
In a case that begins with a stop on one of these roads, the defense often challenges the lawfulness of the stop and the roadside procedure. The judge can suppress the evidence the trooper obtained after the stop if the trooper had no lawful basis to stop the car.
The defense can challenge the reliability of field sobriety tests that the trooper gave on a sloped bridge approach in wind and traffic noise. The judge can exclude the breath test final analysis if the testing procedure did not follow the regulations. Attorney Serpa reviews the stop, the exit order, and every roadside observation in each of these cases.
The Orange Line runs along the edge of Charlestown. Buses cross the Tobin Bridge from Chelsea and Everett, and the commuter ferry connects the Navy Yard to downtown Boston. Tens of thousands of people pass through Charlestown each day. Some of them are charged in this court for something that happened while they were passing through. These defendants often live far from Charlestown and know nothing about the court.
Many firearms cases in this division also begin with a traffic stop on these roads. For a gun found during a search of a car, the defense examines whether the stop and the search were lawful. The judge decides that question on a motion to suppress. The firm’s criminal process page describes each stage of a case, from the stop through the motion hearing.
Students and Licensed Professionals
A Bunker Hill Community College student who is charged in this division can face two proceedings. The criminal case proceeds in the courthouse. The college can also bring a disciplinary case, which uses a lower standard of proof, and at many stages of the disciplinary case the student has no right to a lawyer.
A conviction, and in some cases a charge alone, can affect financial aid, applications to transfer to four-year schools, and admission to programs in nursing and other health fields that review criminal records closely. For an international student, some outcomes also have immigration consequences that last after the criminal case ends. The firm’s student criminal defense FAQ addresses these questions.
Many residents of the Navy Yard are nurses, physicians, financial services employees, teachers, and other licensed professionals. For these defendants, the criminal penalty is often less serious than the effect of the case on a license. Many licensing boards ask about criminal charges as well as convictions, and an outcome that looks harmless on the court docket can lead a board to open an inquiry.
Attorney Serpa considers the licensing board from the first phone call, before any plea. The firm’s pages on professional license consequences and the licensed professionals FAQ explain how case outcomes affect a professional’s obligations to a licensing board.
Many electricians, plumbers, and holders of hoisting licenses pass through Charlestown every day on the way to construction sites. A motor vehicle case can lead to the suspension of the driver’s license that a tradesperson needs for work. Some convictions can also lead to questions from the boards that license these trades. For each of these clients, the criminal record lasts longer than the case, so Attorney Serpa concentrates on the earliest stages of the case.
Nightlife Cases and Domestic Violence Cases
Main Street and the nearby blocks have many bars and restaurants, which draw residents and visitors from across the bridge. Many of the division’s late-night cases arise around closing time. The common charges are disorderly conduct, assault and battery from a dispute on the sidewalk, malicious destruction of property from a scraped car door, and OUI from the drive home. Most of these defendants have no record, and many of these cases are more defensible than they appear on the night of the arrest.
One incident can lead to several charges. A disorderly conduct arrest can come with a resisting arrest charge if the encounter with the police went badly. An OUI charge can come with a negligent operation charge from the same stop. Each added charge affects the plea negotiations and the defendant’s record. In each of these cases, Attorney Serpa first identifies which charges can be dismissed and which charges he must contest at trial.
Massachusetts prosecutors handle domestic violence cases differently from other cases. In the apartments and condominiums of Charlestown, a neighbor who hears an argument through a wall may call 911, and the police respond to the call. The prosecutors then build the case on an evidence-based model.
The prosecutors rely on the recorded 911 call, photographs, medical records, and the officers’ observations rather than on the testimony of the complaining witness. A spouse or partner who wants the case dropped cannot end the case. Attorney Serpa defends these cases by challenging the Commonwealth’s evidence, as the firm’s domestic violence defense page describes.
Clerk-Magistrate Hearings in Charlestown
When police seek a misdemeanor complaint after an incident that did not result in a warrantless arrest, G.L. c. 218, § 35A ordinarily entitles the accused person to a clerk-magistrate hearing. The hearing occurs before a criminal complaint and before arraignment. The clerk-magistrate decides whether the application establishes probable cause and, where discretion is available, whether to authorize a complaint despite probable cause. The guide to what happens at a clerk-magistrate hearing explains the procedure and possible outcomes.
If the application is denied, no complaint issues, no arraignment occurs, and the application creates no CORI entry. If the clerk-magistrate authorizes a complaint, the case proceeds to arraignment. The clerk-magistrate hearing FAQ addresses eligibility, privacy, evidence, witnesses, missed hearings, and records.
A case that begins with a warrantless arrest ordinarily proceeds directly to arraignment rather than to a clerk-magistrate hearing. Attorney Joe Serpa provides representation at Massachusetts clerk-magistrate hearings in the Charlestown Division and elsewhere in the Boston Municipal Court.
Protecting the Record After a Complaint Issues
The court schedules an arraignment after the clerk-magistrate issues a complaint. Massachusetts law allows several outcomes short of a conviction, including pretrial probation, diversion, and a continuance without a finding. Licensing boards, immigration authorities, and employers treat each of these outcomes differently. A continuance without a finding is not a conviction for most purposes, but it remains on the court record. Before recommending an outcome, Attorney Serpa determines what the client’s background checks will show. The firm’s guide to CWOFs, pretrial probation, and diversion explains each outcome.
A person whose case ended long ago can often have the record sealed. Massachusetts law allows the sealing of many older cases and the expungement of a narrower group of cases. Most employers and landlords cannot see a sealed record. The firm’s page on sealing and expunging a criminal record explains the specific eligibility rules. For many Charlestown clients, sealing an old record is the last step in putting a case behind them.
Preparation in a Small Court
Some Charlestown defendants have family members who have appeared in this court before. Other defendants, such as new residents of the Navy Yard, have never been to the court. Neither situation helps or hurts a defendant by itself. In both situations, the clerk-magistrate and the judge give weight to a defendant who has taken the case seriously and to a presentation that holds up under questioning.
The Charlestown Division serves a neighborhood of about one square mile, so the court sees the same families, and sometimes the same defendants, over many years. Attorney Serpa presents a documented, honest, and well-prepared case at each stage. Careful preparation gives the clerk-magistrate and the judge reasons to rule in the client’s favor at the clerk-magistrate hearing, at arraignment, and at every later stage.
A person facing a charge or a show cause hearing in the Charlestown Division should contact a lawyer before the first court date. Contact Serpa Law Office at 617.936.0201 for a confidential consultation.
Quick Answers
What area does BMC Charlestown cover?
The Charlestown Division of the Boston Municipal Court hears criminal cases from the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. These include cases from stops on the Tobin Bridge, Rutherford Avenue, and I-93.
Do I need a lawyer for a clerk-magistrate hearing at Charlestown?
The law does not require a lawyer at a clerk-magistrate hearing, but a lawyer can prepare the defense for the hearing. The hearing takes place before any criminal complaint issues. No complaint issues, no arraignment takes place, and no CORI entry results when the clerk-magistrate denies the application. Attorney Serpa prepares a detailed memorandum about the client and argues that the application does not establish probable cause and that no complaint should issue.
Can an OUI charge from a stop on the Tobin Bridge or I-93 be defended?
Yes. In many of these cases, the defense challenges the reason for the stop and the roadside procedure. Attorney Serpa obtained the dismissal of an OUI charge in the Charlestown Division by challenging those issues. The firm’s results page describes the case.
How does the small size of this court affect my case?
The Charlestown Division is a small court, so the clerk-magistrate and the judge can give each case individual attention. At the clerk-magistrate hearing, documents about the client, restitution when it applies, and a credible client can persuade the clerk-magistrate to deny the application.
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