Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Blog
On February 25, 2023, SM, a 45 year old engineer from Andover got pulled over and cited for speeding, expired inspection sticker, and operating a vehicle with a revoked registration (a criminal offense). The vehicle was a leased Tesla. The police report indicated that the registration was revoked because the vehicle was not insured. A clerk-magistrate hearing was scheduled, but SM never received the hearing notice. The Clerk-Magistrate issued a summons for SM to appear in Woburn District Court for an arraignment on May 2, 2023. Within days after being stopped by the police SM notified the leasing company that the car was and had been fully insured. SM went and got the car registered.
SM consulted with and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from Andover. Attorney Lewin reviewed the police reports and SM – a terrific client – furnished Attorney Lewin with the insurance policies showing that the car was fully insured at all times and with a copy of the new registration certificate.
Attorney Lewin contacted the DA’s Office and showed them that the Registration should never have been revoked as the car was fully insured throughout and that the fault lay with the leasing company. Attorney Lewin prepared and filed a Motion to Dismiss the case (all the charges) prior to arraignment.
On May 2, 2023, Attorney Lewin and SM appeared in Woburn District Court. The case was called and Attorney Lewin’s Motion to Dismiss the case prior to arraignment was presented to the Judge. The Motion fully explained why SM was not at fault. After reading Attorney Lewin’s motion the judge ordered the criminal charge dismissed prior to arraignment. On the two civil motor vehicle infractions (expired inspection sticker and speeding) the Judge found SM NOT responsible. (The police had made a technical error in the citation which Attorney Lewin called to the attention of the Judge.)
The significance of the criminal charge being dismissed prior to arraignment is that the case does NOT go on SM’s criminal record. It is the holding of the arraignment that causes a criminal record to be created. If the arraignment is not held, no criminal record is created. By getting the case dismissed prior to (before) the arraignment, SM avoided getting a criminal record. This was very important to him as he is a manager of engineering at a major high technology company.
Many lawyers would have been content to simply have the case dismissed. Attorney Lewin went the extra mile and advocated strenuously for the case to be dismissed prior to the arraignment, thus keeping SM from getting a criminal record. It is this extremely high level of advocacy that comes from his 52 years in criminal law practice that Attorney Lewin brings to his clients. The results show it.