January 26th 2023
Violation of Probation
Larceny over $1200
Client was a seasoned and experienced licensed electrician and great father. He was accused by a homeowner of accepting payment for a job and not completing the job. Although client has done some work and the homeowner had some legitimate grievances, that homeowner choose to report client to the police alleging that he was a victim of the Larceny over $1200. This charge is a felony in Massachusetts. This was problematic since the client was already on probation at the time, for theft related charges, in another court. Attorney Barabino had to fix each case in a separately. Strategically speaking, attacking the probation case made the most sense since it would be difficult find any favorable resolution of the larceny case with an open probation violation for a similar charge. On the probation matter, the probation department asked for a guilty conviction to enter on client’s record. We declined that offer and sought a full hearing. At the hearing, Attorney Barabino submitted a lengthy memorandum of law, complete with a background memorandum and supporting documentation. Also, he elicited testimony from his client and at the conclusion of the hearing the judge kept the probation same terms and same end date, no change with a verbal admonishment and nothing more. After that success, eventually we were able to negotiate with the second court that a reasonable disposition which was to simply pay back the person who says they are owed money and dismiss the felony charge which they agreed to do if the client pays within 60 days. In the end, the client’s success on his underlying probation case made the 2nd case resolve with ease.
RESULT: No Convictions or Punishment or Probation.
