Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Blog
On April 21, 2018, JR, a 31 year old administrator, was on his way home to Lynn when he got stopped at a State Police Roadblock in Saugus on Route 107 (the Lynn Marsh Road). He entered the roadblock, had a brief interaction with the greeter, and was then directed into the testing area. Field sobriety tests were administered and he was arrested and charged with one count of operating under the influence of intoxicating liquor. He refused a breathalyzer test. JR went to court and got arraigned and then interviewed several lawyers. JR then retained Attorney Robert Lewin from North Andover. Through filing the appropriate discovery motions Attorney Lewin was able to obtain all the State Police Roadblock Documents for that particular roadblock. Roadblock law is a very detail oriented area of the law. The police have to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. Attorney Lewin – after reviewing the police reports and the roadblock documents – found a problem with the police greeter at the roadblock. The greeter was not using a state approved greeting. Attorney Lewin prepared and filed a Motion to Suppress all the evidence that the police had gathered after the stop of JR’s car in the roadblock on the grounds that the greeting being used by the greeter did not meet the requirements of the roadblock law. On October 11, 2018, after a full hearing at which the State Police greeter testified, the Judge agreed with Attorney Lewin and ordered that ALL the evidence gathered by the state police be suppressed (not used). This left the Commonwealth with no evidence. Attorney Lewin then filed a Motion to Dismiss and on November 12, 2018 JR and Attorney Lewin appeared in Lynn District Court and the Judge granted the Motion to Dismiss and the charge was ordered DISMISSED.
JR, who had just become a father, gave Attorney Lewin and big handshake and left the Court a very happy man.