February 5, 2015
Roxbury District Court
Client was accused of breaking into a neighbor’s apartment while the tenant was out of town. The accusations included entering the apartment via the fire escape, renting on-demand pornography, riffling through personal belongings and finally stealing several items. When the resident arrived home, client fled, leaving a smoking cigarette and his unlocked cell phone. Client left with at least one of the resident’s remote controls. The explicit movie was still playing when he exited via the fire escape.
The case against client was strong, there was physical evidence, a confession to the police, even a voluntary return of the stolen items. There were witnesses and identification of client through photos on his own cell phone. Client, a resident-alien from Haiti had two goals, avoid a jail sentence and avoid deportation. Because he had recently left the country for an extended period of time, his plea options were very limited. After careful research into just what charges would trigger ICE deportation or inadmissibility, attorney Martin was able to negotiate a plea deal which resulted in negligible immigration consequences and no additional jail time.
