The Massachusetts Appeals Court today upheld the 2005 animal cruelty convictions of a former Beacon Hill woman who kept one dog and five cats without food in unsanitary conditions at an apartment she rented, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

In a four-page decision authored by Chief Justice Phillip Rapoza, the Appeals Court ruled that a Boston Municipal Court judge’s pre-trial decision allowing partial evidence recovered during the warrantless entry of a Boston Police officer into the home of HEIDI K. ERICKSON (D.O.B. 11/8/60) on the evening of April 27, 2003, was justified “because there was reasonable cause to believe that an emergency existed at the time of entry.” more »

Herman Taylor III was an academic standout, not a gang member, but that didn’t matter to the Heath Street associate who allegedly gunned him down during a mission to kill an H-Block rival, a Suffolk County prosecutor told a Superior Court jury today.

“Here’s why Herman Taylor was killed,” Assistant District Attorney Masai King told jurors this morning during opening statements in the trial of LAMORY GRAY (D.O.B. 10/15/85). “He was killed because he happened to be on Humboldt Avenue.” more »

A man accused of kidnapping his young daughter last summer will also face trial on a charge of furnishing a false name to the police who arrested him, a Suffolk Superior Court judge has decided.

Judge Frank Gaziano, who will preside over the upcoming trial of CHRISTIAN KARL GERHARTSREITER (D.O.B. 2/21/61), on April 17 denied a motion by the defendant’s attorneys to dismiss that charge, for which Gerhartsreiter was indicted last year by a Suffolk County grand jury. Under Ch. 268, Sect. 34A, of the Massachusetts General Laws, the offense carries up to a year behind bars. more »

The West Roxbury / Roslindale Rotary Club last week presented Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley with the Paul Harris Award for excellence in public and community service.

Conley accepted the award on behalf of Suffolk County prosecutors, whom he commended for their tireless work on behalf of victims, their families, and their communities. Prosecutors, he said, have no access to overtime pay and are barred from performing legal work to supplement their incomes. more »

The man accused of murdering 26-year-old Julissa Brisman on April 14 and robbing another woman at gunpoint four days earlier was ordered held without bail at his district court arraignment Tuesday, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

PHILIP MARKOFF (D.O.B. 2/12/86) of Quincy was ordered held without bail at his arraignment Tuesday for Brisman’s April 14 murder in the Marriott Copley Place hotel. Boston Municipal Court Judge Paul K. Leary set bail at $250,000 cash on a separate complaint charging Markoff with the armed robbery and kidnapping of a different woman during an April 10 incident at the Westin Copley Place hotel. Both women had advertised online and were attacked by a man who responded to their postings. more »

An alleged armed robber’s getaway was foiled last night by the quick-thinking convenience store clerk who loaded up his bag with coins during a hold-up in Brighton, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

DEREK ANDRE PRICE (D.O.B. 5/11/91) of Roxbury was arraigned this morning on charges of armed robbery while masked, assault with a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm. Assistant District Attorney John Seed recommended that he be held on $100,000 bail; Brighton District Court Judge Robert McKenna set bail at $25,000. more »

Boston Police officers making a forced entry into a Roslindale home found two murdered children in what a Suffolk County prosecutor described as “a most gruesome scene” during opening statements today in their mother’s double-murder trial.

Assistant District Attorney Audrey Mark told a Superior Court jury that Boston Police were called to 4 Maynard St. to check on the well-being of ANGELA VASQUEZ (D.O.B. 3/15/76) on the evening of July 29, 2007. When no one responded to their knocks on the door, Mark said, the officers pushed in an air conditioner and crawled in through the window. more »

The state’s highest court today refused to dismiss the motor vehicle homicide case against a Beverly Police officer who struck and killed a 61-year-old woman in a 2007 collision, ruling that “there was no misconduct warranting dismissal” of the charges when prosecutors learned after trial of potentially exculpatory evidence.

“There was sufficient evidence introduced at the defendant’s trial for a rational jury to have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of motor vehicle homicide,” the high court wrote in a 10-page decision authored by Justice Judith Cowin. “The delayed disclosure of the expert’s material exculpatory opinion, however, requires that the defendant be granted a new trial.” more »

A 29-year-old Dorchester man was held without bail following his indictment and Superior Court arraignment on charges that he stabbed his girlfriend to death following a Valentine’s Day date, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

MARIO GONZALEZ (D.O.B. 7/28/79) is charged with first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of 38-year-old Luz Forty early on Feb. 15 inside her Ridgewood Street apartment. more »

A Boston Municipal Court judge today determined that FRANK SHEPARD FAIREY, 39, will face felony vandalism complaints when he returns to court for arraignment tomorrow.

Fairey, a Los Angeles resident, was scheduled to be arraigned Monday for a series of complaints obtained by Boston Police. When he appeared in court, 10 of those complaints issued with misdemeanor statute numbers but felony descriptions. Judge Eleanor Coe Sinnott today ruled that the intent of the complaining Boston Police detective was to obtain felony complaints and the intent of the court clerk was to issue felony complaints. more »

A random match between DNA recovered from beneath the fingernails of 18-year-old Noemi Roman and someone other than the man on trial for her murder would be scientifically unprecedented, with odds of about 7 billion to one against it, a Suffolk County prosecutor told a Superior Court jury today.

“With the exception of identical twins, it has never been reported anywhere in the world that two people had the same [DNA] profile at 15 locations,” Assistant District Attorney Holly Broadbent said during closing arguments in the trial of KURVIN RICHARDSON (D.O.B. 10/3/70), whose DNA matched 15 out of 16 genetic marker locations tested by forensic experts during the 2005 reinvestigation of Roman’s 1990 stabbing death in her Peterborough Street home. more »