Personal Injury

May 23, 2015

New Bedford Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Police for Teenager’s Shooting

The family of Malcolm Gracia is suing the city of New Bedford and its police department for Massachusetts wrongful death. The family claims that the 15-year-old was wrongfully detained in 2012 and he was shot without justification. They believe he was a victim of racial profiling.

Detectives detained the teenager after a police sergeant witnessed him on a video feed making what appeared to be a gang handshake. The family’s lawyer claims that the defendants targeted Garcia because of his socioeconomic and racial profile even though he wasn’t caught committing any crime.

Gracia tried to run from the police. However, as Detectives Tyson Barnes approached him, Gracia stabbed the officer three times. Another detective, Paul Fonseca, fired his Taser at the teen, who went down but refused to drop his knife. That was when Gracia was shot multiple times.

May 22, 2015

What Are My Rights If I Get Bitten By a Dog in Massachusetts?

by Altman & Altman

Every state has its own set of rules surrounding dog bites. Laws in certain states show more favor to the victim, while others show more favor to the dog’s owner. Some states are considered “strict liability” states, meaning the dog’s owner is strictly liable for injuries caused by their dog. On the other side of the spectrum, “one bite” states often forgive the first occurrence. Massachusetts has some of the best dog bite laws in the country, if you happen to be the victim.

Strict Liability

As a “strict liability” state, Massachusetts holds a dog’s owner liable for any harm the dog causes, including property damage or physical injury, with certain exceptions. If the alleged victim was trespassing at the time of the attack, the dog owner will not be liable. Similarly, if the alleged victim was teasing, tormenting, or abusing the animal, the dog’s owner will not be liable. However, if the victim is a child under the age of seven years, it will be presumed that none of the above exceptions apply. In cases involving a minor of less than seven years, the burden of proof will be on the dog’s owner.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), dogs bite over 4.7 million people annually. Half of those bitten are children. Over 380,000 dog bite victims require emergency room treatment for their injuries. Small children, postal workers, and the elderly are most at risk for dog bites (in that order). However, young children (ages five to nine) are by far the most at risk, and the majority of their injuries occur on the face and neck. Continue reading

May 16, 2015

Woman Files Massachusetts Injury Case After Police Officer Accidentally Shoots Her in the Face

by Altman & Altman

Britteney Miles is suing for Massachusetts personal injury. Miles was pregnant in 2012 when a former police officer accidentally shot her in the face. She is seeking $1.5 million.

Police arrived at her apartment to answer a 911 call over a possible break in. When Miles, 21, who was holding her daughter in her arms went to open the door, former officer Danielle Petrangelo’s gun went off by accident.

According to the plaintiff, when Petrangelo knocked on the door she was holding her servce revolver at chest level and pointing it toward the entrance. The gun discharged as Miles unlocked the door, causing injury to the woman, who was shot in the chin and face.

April 28, 2015

Nursing Assistant Accused of Assaulting Psychiatric Patient in Leeds, MA

by Altman & Altman

An Ashfield, MA nursing assistant has been charged with assault and battery on a person over 60 or disabled. Garrett C. Crehan, 42, allegedly forced a 61-year-old patient at the Veterans Affairs Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System psychiatric ward in Leeds onto the ground, causing his nose to bleed. He also is accused of holding him down in a bed by pinning and twisting the patient’s arms behind his back, kneeing him in the ribs multiple times, and threatening to kill him.

The alleged patient assault is said to have occurred in January. The following month, three members of the hospital’s nursing staff said they’d witnessed the incident and considered Crehan’s actions patient abuse. Court documents, however, indicate that when a police officer arrived on the scene right after the actual incident, none of the staff members mentioned that an assault had taken place.

The patient, who agreed to write a statement about the alleged incident, said that a staff member twisted his arm and called him a derogatory word for a disabled person. He said that the incident has affected him.

April 21, 2015

Family Files Massachusetts Wrongful Death Case, Sues State Police Over Fatal Shooting of New Bedford Man

by Altman & Altman

The family of Wilfredo Justiniano is suing two members of the Massachusetts State Police for his Quincy, MA wrongful death. The 41-year-old New Bedford man, who was a diagnosed schizophrenic, was unarmed when he was shot by state trooper Stephen Walker in June 2013 during a traffic stop.

The incident happened after a driver contacted police because she witnessed Justiniano driving on the road erratically before stopping on the shoulder. The driver said she thought there was a medical emergency. By the time Walker arrived, Justiniano was outside the car and screaming and jumping. He asked the state trooper to kill him before then saying he would kill Walker.

The state trooper used pepper spray and then, claims Walker, Justiniano ran at him and that was when he fired. Justiniano sustained injury to the chest and the wrist. He was pronounced dead at a Milton hospital.

April 13, 2015

NTSB Says Pilot Error Involved in 2014 Bedford, Massachusetts Plane Crash at Hanscom Field

by Altman & Altman

According to a National Transportation Safety Board report, the pilots of the Gulfstream IV jet that crashed at Hanscom Field last May did not conduct a pre-flight check and disregarded a cockpit warning light. The deadly Bedford, MA aviation accident killed the two men and five others on the plane.

Records indicate that the pilots, James McDowell and Bauek De Vries, regularly did not conduct the standard checks. Because of the failure to perform such a check on May 31, it wasn’t until the aircraft was moving at 150 miles an hour right at lift off that they discovered that the flight controls were locked and the plane could not ascend. Instead, the aircraft kept moving forward until it crashed into an antenna and lighting rig before bursting into flames.

Reportedly the gust lock, which is designed to prevent wind damage, had frozen the elevators and the rudder of the plane into place. The mechanism, which is supposed to limit the plane’s power in such conditions did not work as marketed. The manufacturer, Gulfstream, has admitted that the design of this particular gust lock was not correctly certified. The company did, however, put out advisories warning pilots to make sure the mechanism is disengaged before revving a plane’s engine and to make sure to check flight controls before starting to taxi the aircraft.

March 17, 2015

Woman in Chicopee, Massachusetts Police Brutality Case Alleges Excessive Use of Force

by Altman & Altman

Maylene Maldonado is suing the Chicopee police. She is accusing them of Massachusetts police brutality. Maldonado, who was arrested of assaulting a cop after she resisted arrested in 2013 says she was the victim of excessive police force during her booking.

Recently, surveillance video of her arrest, released by the city of Chicopee, shows one cop placing her in a chokehold and forcing her to the ground. Police claim that Maldonado, who was under the influence of alcohol and drugs, became belligerent.

She is suing Sergeant Daniel Major, who is the police officer in the video physically apprehending her, and several other individuals who currently and previously with the department. She is seeking $1 million.

March 7, 2015

Ex-Western Massachusetts Police Academy Student Files Lawsuit Over Hazing

by Altman & Altman

Timothy Turley is suing the Western Massachusetts Regional Police Academy. The 47-year-old West Roxbury resident, who enrolled as a student in 2013, said that not only was he subjected to numerous indignities, but also he was the target of age-related jokes and racially charged edicts by instructors. Some of these teachers are accused of directing anti-gay slurs at students. In addition to the academy, Turley is suing Municipal Police Training Committee director Daniel Zikovich, academy director Curtis McKenzie, the Municipal Police Training Commission, Delilah Yee, and Robert Powers.

In his Massachusetts hazing case, Turley claims that because he complained, he was expelled one month before finishing the program. He appealed the dismissal, but his request was denied. Prior to enrolling in the program, he worked as a law enforcement officer with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department for twenty years.

Among the behaviors Turley was forced to endure: being made to put socks on a colleague’s bare feet, writing the “Use of Force” rule daily on a white board, and punishment for misspelling the word “volatile” in an assignment—he claims that his younger classmates who made common mistakes didn’t endure such treatment.One trainer that Turley identifies in his complaint is Sean Shattuck, a Holyoke cop who was involved in a brawl at a bar while off-duty in 2007. The plaintiff accuses him of simulating a sex act on another student while training was taking place. Shattuck has been removed from the academy as an instructor and is under investigation.

February 27, 2015

University of Massachusetts Amherst Student Sues Police for Assault, False Arrest

by Altman & Altman

Thomas Donovan has filed a Massachusetts police violence lawsuit against three police officers. He claims that they assaulted and falsely arrested him because he videotaped law enforcement officers last year during the Blarney Blowout, which is a large off-campus party that celebrates St. Patrick’s Day. At the 2014 event, police officers wore riot gear, shooting some 600 rounds of pepper and sting balls at revelers to keep order when there were disturbances.

According to the Massachusetts personal injury case, Donovan claims that he recorded Amherst cops using what seemed like too much force when making the arrest. Even though he shot the footage at a distance from behind a fence, Donovan contends that an officer in full riot gear and armed with a pepper-ball gun went after him. He said that when he did not stop filming, another police officer shot him with pepper spray at close range. When he still would not stop, a third police officer kicked the phone from Donovan’s hand and threw him down before arresting him. Police then allegedly repeatedly stomped on the phone to break it.

The three defendants are Amherst police Andrew Hulse and Jesus Arocho, and John Does 1 and 2. Hulse and Arocho are the ones who arrested Donovan. The plaintiff believes that the arrest report, filed by Arocho, falsely states that Donovan approached the cops that were making an arrest and disregarded orders to get out of the area. He also disputes that the reason that he was paper sprayed was because he went near the officers.

February 3, 2015

Selfies by Pilot May Have Played a Role in Deadly Plane Crash, Says NTSB

by Altman & Altman

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, a pilot’s propensity to take selfies while operating an aircraft likely played a part in causing the small plane crash that killed him and his passenger in Colorado last year. The government agency issued its full probable cause report this week, saying that evidence shows that distracted piloting may have been a key factor in the fatal aviation accident.

The Cessna 150 crashed just four minutes after taking off on May 31, 2014. The pilot was Amritpal Singh. NTSB investigators said they discovered a GoPro camera among the wreckage. The camera had stored various recordings of the pilot and different passengers taking selfies with their cell phones. Camera flash function was used in certain instances during take off periods up through to flight times. Even though none of the videos found on the GoPro were taken during the flight that killed Singh and his passenger, investigators say that the pilot may have been taking selfies that night, too. They believe that this distracted him, resulting in spatial disorientation and loss of control.

Federal Aviation Administration regulations bar commercial pilots from using personal wireless communication devices or laptops for personal use while on the flight deck during aircraft operation. Pilots, however, are allowed to use cameras during the flight, just not cell phone cameras.