Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Blog
On March 27, 2024,CG, a 53 year old nurse from Beverly, was driving from her home in Beverly to Shop & Shop. It was in the mid-afternoon. As she traveled down a residential street, she noticed a small truck with a trailer attached, parked on the right hand side of the street. As she passed by the truck she heard a bang. She did not see anyone around and she continued down the street. She went to Stop & Shop and in the parking lot she noticed that her passenger side mirror was damaged and that pieces of the mirror were missing. She then returned to the place where the truck had been. She slowly drove by and did not notice the police officer and man that were standing off to the side. She did not stop and continued home. The man who’s truck had been hit actually got CG’s plate number and a description of her car at the time of the crash and gave that information to the police. The Beverly police then issued a citation to CG for leaving the scene of a property damage accident and no inspection sticker. (The inspection sticker on her car had expired.) CG failed to attend a Clerk-Magistrate hearing (big mistake) and a criminal complaint was issued against her for leaving the scene and no inspection sticker. CG met with and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from Andover.
Attorney Lewin immediately began his investigation of the case. It turned out that the damage to the truck was quite minor. There was a ladder on the back of the trailer that was knocked loose. The ladder simply needed to be reattached to the back of the trailer. Attorney Lewin spoke to CG’s insurance company to determine if any claim had been made and none was made. Attorney Lewin then met with the Assistant DA handling the case and was able to get the Assistant DA to agree to what is called a “general continuance” of the case. A general continuance is when the case is simply left open for a period opt time and then dismissed. It is NOT a plea bargain. There is no guilty plea; there is no admission of any kind. At the end of the period of time the case is dismissed. Attorney Lewin calls a “general continuance” a dismissal that takes a little time to get there. (It is quite different from a “cwof – a continuance without a finding”. A cwof is a plea bargain and involves an admission of guilt; a general continuance involves no admissions of guilt at all.)
On October 11, 2024, CG and Attorney Lewin appeared in Salem District Court and the Judge continued CG’s case generally for six months. At that time – if CG stays out of trouble – the criminal charge of Leaving the Scene will be DISMISSED. In addition, the Judge entered a finding of NOT responsible on the inspection sticker violation. Attorney Lewin explained that right after this incident CG went and had her car inspected and got a sticker.
Attorney Lewin explained to CG that as a result of her case being continued generally she should be aware of the following:
- There was NO plea of guilty.
- There was NO admission of guilt or any wrongdoing.
- This was NOT a plea bargain.
- CG’s plea of NOT guilty remained,
- There was NO finding of guilt or wrongdoing against her.
- She was NOT convicted of any offense.
- She was found NOT responsible of the civil inspection sticker violation.
- In six months the criminal charge would be DISMISSED.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY FOR CG SHE WOULD NOT LOSE HER LICENSE.
CG gave Attorney Lewin two nice hugs as they left Salem District Court. CG was quite happy!
Attorney Lewin’s record of obtaining great results in hit and run cases (whether they involve property damage or personal injury) is second to none. His practice is strictly limited to criminal defense. He spent four years as an Assistant District Attorney prosecuting criminal cases, and has spent the last 49 years as a criminal defense lawyer. There are very few lawyers with this amount of experience and excellent results.