2023 Case Results

CHARGE: Operating Under the Influence. The Watertown Police Department received a call that a vehicle (later identified as our client's) was operating erratically, in and out of lanes, and almost striking numerous other cars. The caller provided a description of the car and our client's license plate. WPD responded to the area, observed our client's car stopped in the middle of the road's travel lane, with no traffic signals indicating for him to stop. Police activated emergency lights to pull our client over, and our client then drove approximately 100 yards forward before coming to a stop on the side of the road. Police then observed our client to smell like alcohol, have slurred speech, and when asked to exit his vehicle, he fell onto the ground. He was arrested for OUI, and before towing his car, and inventory search yielded two empty bottles of tequila in the front seat. 

RESULT: Attorney Urbelis filed a motion to suppress the stop. After an evidentiary hearing, the government failed to present the requisite evidence relating to the caller, which was the basis for the stop, and our motion was ALLOWED. That means that all evidence gathered as a result of the stop cannot be used at trial, and as a result, the case must now be dismissed. 

CHARGE: First- degree Murder. In February of 2020, our client was 19 years old. He was involved in a murder; however, he was NOT the individual who committed the killing, nor was he ever alleged by law enforcement to have been the shooter (despite misleading news reports). 25 minutes prior to the killing, our client is on convenience store surveillance video watching the eventual victim enter the store. 20 minutes before the killing, after leaving the convenience store and entering his vehicle, our client can be seen on video picking up the eventual shooter on the side of the road. 15 minutes prior to the killing, our client can be seen on video dropping the eventual shooter off, in the area of the victim, and where the lethal shooting happened. For 5 minutes after dropping off the shooter, our client can be seen driving around the block 3 times, with his headlights off. The shooter had motive to kill the victim; the victim was under investigation for killing the shooter's brother. Days later, prior to our client being charged, he made the fatal mistake of voluntarily going into the homicide unit of Boston Police Department, without a lawyer, because they had called him in. He wanted to "clear things up." This hour long interview eventually led to his downfall, where he had attempted to "distance himself" from the killing, but it backfired and ended up appearing very incriminating. (Never go in to a police interview without an attorney!) He was eventually indicted for first- degree murder, and held without bail. In Massachusetts, you don't need to kill someone in order to be charged with murder, and there is no "accessory to murder" charge. If you are believed to have knowingly assisted another person in any crime, including murder, you are just as guilty of that underlying offense as the perpetrator under a "joint venture" theory. 

Our client had grown up in and out of homeless shelters with his family, had a learning disability, and was just one month away from graduating high school prior to the arrest. Immediately after his arrest, his mother and sister contacted Urbelis Law, and collaborated with family and friends to come up with a retainer to hire Urbelis Law to defense their son/ brother in the prosecution this capital offense. Over the next 3.5 years, Attorney Urbelis grew close with the family, and believed strongly in his client. 

RESULT: After reviewing all of the evidence, developing a strong relationship with our client for the 3.5 years he was held without bail (many factors, including the Covid pandemic, delayed many cases during this time period), we were ready for trial. We felt strongly that the government would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that our client knew that the other person was going to commit murder, and that our client would be acquitted. However, if we lost, our client would spend the rest of his life in prison, without any possibility of parole. As the trial date approached, and our client now 23 years old, we were able to resolve the matter in a way that would likely have him out by the time he's 25 years old. With our recommendation, our client agreed that this plea was just too good to pass up. In a way, it was like an insurance policy; because in the (what we all believed to be very unlikely) event that our client was found guilty, his life would literally be over, locked in a cell until he dies. We agreed to a reduced manslaughter plea with a 6- 8 year prison sentence. Our client already had 3.5 years of pretrial detention "credit" towards that sentence, and he'd now also accrue "good time" credit during his prison commitment. He'll likely be eligible for parole in just over 1 year, and even if not paroled be entitled to release in 2- 2.5 years. Our client and his family were extremely thankful for this outcome, given the gravity of what he'd been facing. At the conclusion of the plea, while in the court's custody but prior to being transported to state prison, our client reminded Attorney Urbelis that he promised the client his first- ever dinner at a premiere steakhouse upon his release; Attorney Urbelis couldn't be more excited to fulfill that promise.