Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

A 3-year-old boy who was seriously injured during a Worcester, Massachusetts dog attack is reportedly so traumatized by what happened that he doesn’t want to go home. Bartolo Colon was bitten on the face by a neighbor’s pit bull on Saturday after midnight.

Colon has cuts on his face and had to get over 100 stitches. His eyes are still swollen.

The pit bull is 11-months-old and weights 85 pounds. There are no records that the dog’s shots were updated and his owners may not have obtained a dog license for him. On Saturday, animal control officers took him away.

The brother of the dog’s owner says the pit bull is normally not aggressive at all and likes kids. Colon’s mother Andrea, however, says she has complained to the landlord of the apartment building several times about the animal. In the meantime, her son is staying at his grandmother’s house.

According to DogsBite.org, pit bull-like dogs were accountable for the deaths of 52 Americans between 2006 and 2008. They also were responsible for 59% of all deadly dog attacks. Pit bulls are also involved in most off-property dog maulings that result in human fatalities.

DogsBites.org reports that from January to June 2009 318 dog attack incidents involving pit bulls and their mixes occurred resulting in 388 bite victims.

Dog mauling incidents can be traumatic, painful, and lead to lasting physical and emotional scars for the victim. Fortunately, Massachusetts has laws holding dog owners strictly liable for injuries inflicted by their dogs. In some cases, a premise owner that may not be the dog owner but who allowed the animal onto the property can also liable for premises liability.

Dog bite victims may incur costly medical expenses from reconstructive surgeries, plastic surgeries, therapy, and other treatments.

Boy traumatized by dog , Boston.com, September 28, 2009

Mid Year Results: U.S. Pit Bull Attacks 2009, DogsBite.org

Related Web Resources:
General Laws of Massachusetts

Top Ten (10) Most Dangerous Dog Breeds

Continue reading "Worcester Boy Injured in Massachusetts Pit Bull Attack Gets Over 100 Stitches on his Face " »

One month after 15-year-old Alessandra Castner was killed in a Marblehead, Massachusetts pedestrian accident while crossing the street, the investigation into the fatal traffic crash continues. However, the probe has become controversial following allegations by “Allie’s” father, Christopher Castner, that prosecutors are engaged in a coverup.

This week, Castner’s attorney sent Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett a letter accusing authorities of improperly concealing the name of the driver, 18. The note also alleges a conflict of interest based on the claim that Blodget is friends with the motorist’s uncle. Criminal charges have not been filed over the deadly Essex County, Massachusetts pedestrian accident. The DA’s office is denying the accusations.

To date, there is no evidence that the driver was drunk, under the influence of drugs, speeding, texting, or talking on the cell phone. Castner, however, contends that his daughter was walking in a crosswalk when the vehicle struck her and there were no skid marks on the road. Following the deadly Massachusetts pedestrian accident, Alessandra was flown to Boston Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

Massachusetts Pedestrian Accidents
Although police will investigate your pedestrian accident, it may be to your benefit to make sure that there is someone advocating on your behalf. An experienced Boston pedestrian accident law firm can conduct its own investigation into what happened.

Pedestrians struck by motor vehicles are seldom left unscathed, and in many instances, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, internal injuries, and death can result.

Even if the driver didn’t intend to injure you or your loved one, the motorist can be held liable for engaging in distracted driving, speeding, failing to yield, text messaging, talking on the cell phone, drunk driving, failing to stop at a pedestrian crossing, and other negligent acts.

Family calls for driver to be charged in teen's death, The Salem News, September 24, 2009

Victim’s dad claims coverup, Boston Herald, September 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Pedestrians, NHTSA

Pedestrian Fatality Facts, 2008, IIHS

A Boston Police Internal Affairs investigation is expected to heat up now that the man alleging Boston police brutality has been acquitted of assaulting his girlfriend.

Firefighter Wayne Abron claims that Boston cops David Santosuosso and Brian Dunford severely beat him when they arrived in his mother’s backyard while he and his then-girlfriend, Edwinna Wynn, were arguing loudly on March 23, 2008.

The two officers claimed that they had to pull Abron off Wynn. They say the then-41-year-old firefighter tried to hit them, which is why they called for backup.

Wynn has been adamant that Abron never touched her during their verbal altercation. She supports Abron’s allegations that the police officers attacked him. Wynn and three of Abron’s family members claim that the cops tackled him from behind and slammed his head against the ground.

Santosuosso and Dunford deny beating Abron, who was limp and bloodied when they brought him in. The police officers claim that the firefighter sustained his injuries earlier in the night during a fight with the father of Wynn’s child. Prosecutors, however, could not find evidence to support this claim. Wynn’s lawyer says that Wynn’s ex, who was not in town on the night of the beating, does not live in Massachusetts.

During his criminal trial, questions were raised as to whether the arresting cops organized a police cover-up of the beating. Abron sustained facial contusions and an eye-socket injury.

Boston cops and other Massachusetts police officers must never use excessive use of force, which is a form of police misconduct. Victims of police brutality can file a claim for Boston personal injury recovery.

Earlier this month, a 25-year-old Oxford, Massachusetts nursing assistant filed her Worcester County, Massachusetts police brutality lawsuit against the city and three of its officers, Chief Gary J. Gemme, Officer Mark Rojas, and Officer Kellen E. Smith. Katie Warren, who is 5’3 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds, claims that in September 2006, the two men approached her at a gas station and asked her why she wasn’t smiling. An argument ensued, and she says that as she tried to walk away, the cops grabbed her, twisted her arms behind her back, pulled her hair, slammed her head against a store window, threw her to the ground, verbally abused her, and took her into custody.

Warren says she sustained bruises from the arrest and received treatment at St. Vincent Hospital. She was later charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, threatening to commit a crime, and disturbing the peace. The charges against Warren were later dismissed and she was put on probation for three months.

Beaten firefighter’s acquittal bolsters cover-up claim, Boston Herald, September 22, 2009

Woman files lawsuit against Officer Rojas, Telegram.com, September 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Boston Police Department

Boston Internal Affairs

In Norfolk Superior Court, Judge Patrick F. Brady has ordered Boston mobsters James “Whitey’’ Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman’’ Flemmi to pay $30 million for the Massachusetts wrongful death of Debra Davis. Flemmi, who was the 26-year-old woman's boyfriend, testified of his reluctance to kill her. He said that Bulger demanded that she die because she knew too much about their connection to the FBI as informants.

Flemmi, who is in prison for life for 10 murders, has also been ordered to pay $3 million for molesting Davis’s younger sister, Michelle, as well as $500,000 for the intentional emotional trauma inflicted on Davis’s mother, Olga. Michelle and Olga are both dead so any compensation that is collected would go to their estates. Bulger continues to remain in hiding.

A federal judge has yet to issue its final ruling on whether the government should be held liable for Davis’s murder as well as for the killings of Louis Litif and Deborah Hussey. Last July, US District Judge William G. Young said that the government was liable and that the families of the three victims should each receive $350,000 for pain and suffering. The judge said that he didn’t think he was going to order the government to pay the mothers of Davis and Hussey damages for their losses of companionship and support because the victims were adults when they died.

The Massachusetts wrongful death lawyer representing Davis’s family, however, asked that the judge reconsider—especially as the two mobsters have each been ordered to pay Olga $5 million for loss of companionship.

Last June, Young ordered the federal government to pay Richard J Castucci’s family $6.25 million for his wrongful death. Former hit man John Martorano shot him in the head after Bulger and Flemmi found out he was an informant.

In May, the government was told to pay $8.25 million to the families of Edward Halloran and Michael Donahue for their Boston wrongful deaths. Bulger killed the two men.

In 2006, a judge told the FBI to pay the mother and brother of Quincy fisherman John McIntyre $3.1 million for his mob murder.

Judge orders mobsters to pay $30m to victim’s family, Boston.com, September 18, 2009

US ordered to pay $6.25m to family in 1976 mob killing, Boston.com, June 12, 2009

Families Of ‘Whitey’ Bulger Victims Awarded $8.5 Million, WBUR.org/AP, May 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Stepping up hunt for Whitey Bulger, FBI

Notorious Boston crime boss turns 80 as a fugitive, Boston.com, September 3, 2009

Over a year ago, our Boston Injury Lawyer Blog posted a story about a $10 million Massachusetts wrongful death filed against the city of Beverly and three of its police officers over the 2005 suicide death of then-19-year-old Danielle Tarsook.

The lawsuit accused the defendants of negligence in the way they handled a 911 call about a “possible suicidal female, who happened to be Danielle. After taking her to a hospital to have her admitted, they instead handed her over to her father, then-police officer Dennis Tarsook. The complaint notes that it is against police policy for officers to handle incidents that involve their family members.

Per a state police report, Danielle and her dad got into an argument and she went home without getting any medical help. She then used an electrical cord to hang herself in the bathroom of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Matt Lewis.

Now, according to the Massachusetts wrongful death lawyer representing Danielle’s mother, Beverly Tarsook, police are claiming they cannot find the recording of the 911 phone call that Lewis made on the day that Danielle killed herself. The attorney also says that the cop who wrote a report about the incident is now claiming to have made an error when noting the call was about a “possible suicidal female” and that some people are now saying they didn’t know the teenager was suicidal.

The personal injury attorney would like the Beverly, Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit to go to trial, but he claims that the attorneys for the city want the judge to dismiss the case through summary judgment.

There are procedures that police in Massachusetts must follow when making arrests, handling domestic violence or suicide calls, interrogating suspects, or conducting investigations. When negligence, failure to follow protocols, or excessive use of violence results in injury or death, the city police department and the officers involved could be held liable for personal injury, wrongful death, or police brutality.

Lawyer: Police can't find 911 tape, The Salem News, September 12, 2009

Police sued for $10 million over suicide of officer's daughter, Salem News, May 6, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Beverly Police Department

Wrongful Death, Massachusetts General Laws

Experts are watching to determine the outcome of a clergy sex abuse case involving defrocked priest Paul Shanley. Shanley was convicted of child rape and indecent assault and battery for abusing a 27-year-old man when he was just a young boy.

The victim would go on to receive a $500,000 Boston child sex abuse settlement for his personal injuries. He accused Shanley of repeatedly abusing him when he was a Sunday school student in Newton. He said that the abuse incidents, which began when he was 6, took place in the rectory, the pews, the confessional, and the boys’ room. He said it wasn’t until the clergy sex abuse scandal occurred that he remember what happened to him.

Three other men that Shanley was initially accused of sexually abusing were later dropped from the criminal case. All four men said that they didn’t remember the abuse until years later when they recovered memories they had repressed.

Now, Shanley is questioning his conviction and the validity of repressed-recovered memories. While some experts believe that it is indeed possible to recover memories of child sex abuse, others are questioning whether such memories are reliable.

Yet there are many cases involving victims who were unable to remember the molestation incidents until years after they happened. Some child sex abuse victims were too scared to report the abuse at the time or may have been too young to even understand what was happening to them. As a result, they waited until they were older to come forward.

The Catholic Church in the US has spent over $2.5 billion in clergy sex abuse settlements. Over 550 sex abuse victims were in the Boston archdiocese.

Sexual Abuse
Regardless of how old you were when the sexual abuse happen, sex abuse is traumatic, violating, and can cause serious damage to a victim. Some people may have to spend years in therapy undoing the harm that was done to them. They may turn to drug addition, alcoholism, or suffer from eating disorders to cope. There may be grounds for filing a child sexual abuse lawsuit against the perpetrator.

Convicted ex-priest challenges repressed memories, AP, September 9, 2009

‘Repressed memory’ at issue in defrocked priest’s appealhttp://www.altmanllp.com/lawyer-attorney-1353569.html, Boston Globe, September 9, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Archdiocese of Boston

Differences In Recovered Memories Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Science Daily, February 4, 2009

Continue reading "Massachusetts Clergy Sexual Abuse: Defrocked Priest Paul Shanley Challenges Conviction for Indecent Assault & Battery and Child Rape" »

Four people were injured on Monday in a Jamaica Plane car accident when a motorist ran a red light, striking a Boston Fire Department vehicle. The driver of the 1998 Audi, Victor Cowart, was trying to get to his fiancé’s home after finding out the kitchen had caught fire.

Cowart struck the 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, a District 9 Vehicle, at Atherton and Amory at around 4pm. According to the Boston Herald, the SUV, which was transporting the fire chief and his driver, was also headed to the fire site and its flashing red lights were activated at the time of the Massachusetts traffic crash.

Injured in the Jamaica Plain motor vehicle crash were Cowart, a 6-year-old girl who was riding in the car with him, fire chief Robert Dowling, and firefighter Russell Boone. All of them were taken to hospitals for injuries that fortunately do not appear to be life threatening.

Cowart received a traffic citation for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. His fiancé was reportedly following the Audi in another vehicle.

Motorists are supposed to yield the right of way to emergency vehicles. They are not supposed to run a red light, neglect to make a full stop at a stop sign, drive above the speed limit, or commit any other traffic violations. Traffic laws exist not just to keep order on the streets but also to prevent Boston motor vehicle accidents from happening.

Red Light Running
Running a red light is one of the most dangerous traffic violations that a driver can commit. Examples of the kinds of Boston car crashes that can occur during a red light running accident:

Side-swipe: One car strikes the driver’s side of another vehicle.

T-bone: The front of one vehicle collides with a side door of the other vehicle, potentially causing serious injury to the person seated on that side.

When a Boston car accident occurs because a driver ran a red light, the vehicles following behind the negligent motorist may have to step on their brakes abruptly, potentially causing at least one or more rear-end crashes—again, resulting in personal injury or wrongful death.

Man hits BFD SUV on way to Jamaica Plain fire, Boston Herald, September 8, 2009

Fire chief, 3 others injured in crash, Boston Globe, September 8, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Dangers of Running Red Lights

Red Light Running, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Continue reading "Four People Injured in Jamaica Plain Car Accident When Driver Strikes Boston Fire Department Vehicle After Running Red Light" »

Following allegations made by a former lawyer for Toyota that it hid key records from past rollover accident plaintiffs suing for personal injury and wrongful death, the world’s auto manufacturer could find that it will be forced to defend itself against auto products liability lawsuits that the company had already settled or won.

The former Toyota attorney, Dimitrios Biller, says that he was pressured into leaving his job because he complained about the company’s alleged activities. He says Toyota got rid of testing and engineering evidence in over 300 SUV rollover lawsuits that should have been given to plaintiffs.

Biller also says that Toyota withheld a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report about roof-crush data and that there are a number of Toyota vehicles being driven on US roads today that fail to meet the company’s internally mandated safety goals. He describes Toyota’s alleged misconduct as a “systematic pattern and practice of discovery abuses and criminal acts against plaintiffs.”

Rollover Accidents
Rollover collisions are responsible for more than 30% of motor vehicle fatalities each year, claiming the lives of over 10,000 people. Auto manufacturers are responsible for designing their vehicles—in particular, sport utility vehicles, in such a way that the chances of a rollover accident happening are minimized. In the event that motor vehicle does rollover, the roof should be able to protect passengers during roof crush incidents, which can otherwise result in spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and wrongful death.

Injuries from rollover crashes often require costly, extensive medical care. One way that victims have been able to afford medical services and a lifetime spent coping with permanent disabilities and other serious injuries is to recover compensation from liable automakers. If in fact Toyota did conceal key data that could have resulted in an auto products liability plaintiff receiving a more substantial recovery—or any compensation for that matter—this is a good reason to reopen a rollover lawsuit.

Our Boston auto products liability law firm represents clients with rollover lawsuits, defective tire cases, faulty seat belt claims, and other injury and wrongful death cases that occurred because an automaker was negligent when designing or manufacturing their motor vehicles.

Toyota May Face Push to Reopen Rollover-Crash Cases, Bloomberg, September 1, 2009

Toyota Accused of Hiding Evidence, CBS, August 29, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Biller v. Toyota (PDF)

Rollover: The Hidden History of the SUV, PBS

Continue reading "Will Boston Auto Products Liability Lawyers Push Toyota Motor Corp. To Open Previously Resolved Rollover Lawsuits?" »

A 50-year-old Barrington man was injured in a Bedford motorcycle accident on August 20 when he was hit by a motor vehicle on Route 101. Robert Heywood was treated for his injuries at a Manchester hospital and then later released.

Heywood reportedly injured his leg, broke his knee, and sustained lacerations to his head and ear. He was not using a motorcycle helmet at the time of the Massachusetts traffic accident.

The Bedford, Massachusetts motorcycle accident happened early in the evening when Heywood was struck by a vehicle driven by 19-year-old Brittany Lacourse. Police say that the Lowell driver was talking on her cell phone when she crossed solid white lines and struck Heywood.

Heywood says that she dragged his bike at a speed of 5 mph. After his bike came free and fell over, he claims that she drove off. Her mother called police to report the Massachusetts motorcycle accident.

Heywood is a self-employed construction worker. He says he won’t be able to work while he recovers. Last week, Massachusetts police charged Lacourse with felony conduct after an accident.

In Massachusetts, there is no statewide law banning the use of handheld cell phones or the practice of text messaging while driving. Yet, time and again, our Boston injury law firm hears about the car accidents, motorcycle crashes, truck collisions, bus accidents, and train crashes that occur because a motorist was negligent when he or she decided to talk on the phone or text message while operating a motor vehicle.

Distracted driving of any kind can be grounds for a Bedford, Massachusetts motorcycle accident lawsuit if a rider was injured because another motorist was careless. It is a driver's responsibility to pay attention to the road and watch out for other vehicles and pedestrians so that no one gets hurt.

Mass. woman faces felony in crash that injured biker, Union Leader, August 28, 2009

Motorcyclist dragged, abandoned on highway, Bedford Bulletin, August 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Cell Phone Driving Laws, GHSA, August 2009

Distracted Driving, AAA Exchange

Massachusetts RMV