Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

When soldiers return home from war to suffer from PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, they are not the only ones to suffer.

According to recent accounts, between 286,000 and 520,000 of the 2.6 million military men and women who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan may be suffering from PTSD. A 2012 Defense Department study found that only 54 percent of service members who screened positive for psychological health needs or traumatic brain injury in post-deployment health assessments went for subsequent treatment.

When PTSD goes untreated, it can lead to a plethora of problems. Failed marriages, suicide attempts, criminal activity and violent behavior are among the many dangerous things that PTSD can lead its sufferers to do. Friends and family members of veterans are often left to try to pick up the pieces of these fractured lives and find psychological or legal assistance.

To read a recent article about the effects of PTSD on one family, click on the following link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/military-marriages_n_3511780.html

If you find yourself picking up the pieces from a loved one suffering from PTSD, who may have delved into criminal activity as a result of the disorder, there is special legal assistance waiting for you. If you need or a family member need criminal defense in civilian or military court, call the Law Offices of John L. Calcagni, III, at 401-531-5100 for a free consultation to learn about your options.
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The Law Office of John L. Calcagni, III offers clients representation in the areas of Criminal Defense, Military Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, OUI Defense in MA , Assault and Battery and all criminal matters.

Please call (401) 351-5100 to arrange for a free consultation about your case or visit our website at www,CalcagniLaw.com

If you cannot make it to one of our offices, we will to come to your home or detention center.

Motion to Suppress Drugs Case Result

If you have been charged with a drug related offense in RI, MA or on a Federal level, contact Criminal Defense Attorney Calcagni at (401) 351-5100 for a consultation now.

Motion to Suppress Drugs Granted and Case Dismissed 

October 2011

A man was charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana and a Drug School Zone Violation, which makes it unlawful to possess drugs within 1000 feet of a school or 100 feet of a park.  These charges stemmed from the search of the man’s car by police, which uncovered a substantial quantity of marijuana from inside the automobile.  An undercover police officer, driving an unmarked police cruiser, drove into the parking lot of a neighborhood park during the daytime.  The officer observed a man sitting alone inside his vehicle.  There was no one else present in the park.  The officer did not observe any drug or other unlawful activity.  The officer also did not recognize or otherwise know the man.  The officer used a pair of binoculars to get a closer look at the man.  He specifically observed the man sitting in the driver’s seat of his car looking into his lap.  He then saw what he believed to be the man licking a marijuana cigar or blunt.  The officer immediately drove his unmarked cruiser next to the man’s car so that the driver’s side doors of each car were aligned.  As the officer pulled up, he observed loose tobacco on the ground outside of the man’s car, which the officer, based upon his training and experience, understood to be from a lawful cigar the man had emptied in order to roll a marijuana cigar or blunt.  The officer made no other observations or detected the odor of marijuana.  Based on his limited observations, the officer unilaterally opened the man’s car door; grabbed the apparent cigar from the man’s hand; and physically removed from his vehicle.  The officer then proceeded to search inside the passenger compartment where he discovered multiple bags of marijuana of varying quantities.  The officer then arrested the man and charged him with various drug offenses.  Attorney Calcagni was tasked with representing the man, who was a first-time offender.

In defense of the man, Attorney Calcagni sought to challenge the legality of the police conduct by filing a suppression motion.  The motion challenged the officer’s conduct of opening the man’s car door; grabbing an object from the man’s hand; physically removed the man from his vehicle; and searching inside.  The thrust of this argument was that the police violated the man’s 4th amendment right against warrantless and unreasonable searches and seizures.  If successful, the motion asked the Court to suppress as evidence against the man the drugs discovered by police in his vehicle.  The Court conducted a hearing on the defense motion.  After the hearing, the Court agreed with Attorney Calcagni that the man’s rights were violated.  As a remedy for this violation, the Court suppressed the discovered marijuana.  As a result of this favorable pretrial ruling, all charges against the man will soon be dismissed for lack of evidence. Ultimately, this client avoided a mandatory jail sentence associated with the drug charges and will not sustain a criminal record from this incident.

Criminal Defense Attorney Calcagni has Shoplifting charges Dismissed

Criminal Defense Attorney Calcagni announces results in recent Shoplifting case. See the case details below. If you have questions on Criminal Defense please call (401) 351-5100 or visit www.CalcagniLaw.com to arrange for a free consultation about your case.

CHARGES: Shoplifting

CASE DETAILS: Man was charged with shoplifting from a mall department store.  According to the store’s loss prevention agent, the man picked up a pair of earrings and left the store premises without rendering payment.  The alleged incident was partially caught on videotape; however, it was unclear from the tape whether man actually removed the merchandise from the store.  Further, there were conflicting statements in both the loss prevent agent’s incident report and resulting police report following man’s arrest.  Based on these collective factors, successfully negotiated for dismissal on this charge at pretrial conference.

RESULT: Dismissed. 


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The Law Office of John L. Calcagni III offers clients representation in the areas of Criminal Defense, Military Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, OUI Defense in MA , and Assault and Battery matters. John L. Calcagni, III is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Please call (401) 351-5100 to arrange for a free consultation about your case. If you cannot make it to one of our offices, we will to come to your home or detention center.

Criminal Defense Attorney John L. Calcagni, III Files Appeal in Landmark Drunk-Driving Case

On April 1, 2011, Attorney John L. Calcagni, III was interviewed for a Lawyer's Weekly article regarding the issue of language barriers and the rights of drunk-driving defendants.

The article details a December 2009 case, wherein Attorney Calcagni represented a non-English speaking defendant who had been arrested and charged with driving under the influence. The decision reached by the Court found, based upon testimony by the arresting officer, that the defendant was aware enough to submit to a field sobriety test, but that the blood alchohol test was given without his full awareness.

An excerpted portion of the interview, where the interviewer questions whether Attorney Calcagni has found any case law to support his appeal of the decision, had this response, "I haven’t found much guiding case law on this issue of language and field sobriety tests. I did find a couple of cases in New Jersey that weren’t exactly on point and some that held weight against me, basically saying that driving is a privilege, and in order to obtain that privilege people have to give up certain rights, such as complying to tests on the roadside. Obviously, I will not be citing those cases."

When asked about his appeal of the Court's decision, Attorney Calcagni responded, "Appealing this case is necessary to “right the court’s wrong” and to ensure an even playing field for both English-speaking and non-English speaking defendants alike. Every man is supposed to stand equally at the bar of justice, therefore, the police should treat everyone equally both on the roadside and in the course of their investigations. In some instances, this places the onus on the police to obtain the assistance of an interpreter or bilingual officer. Where the police fail to take these steps to accommodate less sophisticated, non-English speaking defendants, the defendants should not be penalized by the Court. That is exactly what happened to Mr. DaLomba, and appealing his case is necessary to correct this error.”

The full text of the interview by Phillip Bantz, entitled Language barrier at issue in drunk-driving case, can be found HERE

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The Law Office of John L. Calcagni III offers clients representation in the areas of Criminal Defense, Military Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, OUI Defense in MA , and Assault and Battery matters. John L. Calcagni, III is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Please call (401) 351-5100 to arrange for a free consultation about your case. If you cannot make it to one of our offices, we will to come to your home or detention center.

Shoplifting case Dismissed by Criminal Defense Lawyer John L. Calcagni III

A recent client charged with Shoplifting came to Criminal Lawyer John L. Calcagni for criminal defense. The details of the cases are below:


CHARGES: Shoplifting

CASE DETAILS: Man visited the Sears Department Store at a nearby shopping mall.  According to loss prevention officers, the man selected a portable DVD player from a shelf and exited the store without paying for this merchandise.  A loss prevention officer followed the man outside and physically detained him until the police were notified and arrived.  Police arrived, placed man under arrest, and charged him with Shoplifting. 


RESULT: Dismissed. On the morning of trial, successfully moved for the dismissal of this case upon the man’s payment in court costs.


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The Law Office of John L. Calcagni III offers clients representation in the areas of Criminal Defense, Military Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, OUI Defense in MA , and Assault and Battery matters. John L. Calcagni, III is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Please call (401) 351-5100 to arrange for a free consultation about your case. If you cannot make it to one of our offices, we will to come to your home or detention center.

Vandalism and Witness Intimidation case Dismissed by Criminal Defense Lawyer John L. Calcagni III

 Recently a client came to Criminal Lawyer John L. Calcagni for the charges of Vandalism, Witness Intimidation, and Threatening to Commit a Crime. The details of the cases are below:

PART I - 

CHARGES: Vandalism

CASE DETAILS: Property owner phoned police claiming that she witnessed her next door neighbor break her living room picture window with an adjustable wrench.  Police responded, arrested neighbor and charged her with vandalism.  Neighbor maintained her innocence by pleading not guilty and demanded a jury trial.

RESULT: Dismissed. On the morning of trial, successfully moved to have the charge dismissed.  The Court granted the Defense motion and dismissed the case against the neighbor.


PART II - 

CHARGES: Witness Intimidation and Threatening to Commit a Crime:  

CASE DETAILS: Same property owner filed additional charges against her neighbor.  While in court awaiting a pretrial conference in connection with the above Vandalism case, property owner reported to police that the defendant-neighbor both threatened her and communicated profanities while seated nearby in the courtroom.  Based upon this complaint, police issued an arrest warrant for the neighbor and charged her with both Witness Intimidation and Threatening to Commit a Crime.  Neighbor continued to maintain her innocence against all allegations by the property owner and again demanded her right to a jury trial. 

RESULT: Dismissed. On the morning of trial, successfully moved for another dismissal.  The Court granted the motion and dismissed all charges against the neighbor.


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The Law Office of John L. Calcagni III offers clients representation in the areas of Criminal Defense, Military Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, OUI Defense in MA , and Assault and Battery matters. John L. Calcagni, III is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Please call (401) 351-5100 to arrange for a free consultation about your case. If you cannot make it to one of our offices, we will to come to your home or detention center.

Simple Assault clients verdict filed after trial by Criminal Defense Lawyer John L. Calcagni III

Recently a client came to Criminal Defense Attorney John L. Calcagni for the charge Simple Assault. The details of the case are below:


CHARGES: Simple Assault

CASE DETAILS: Man and his cousin (Co-Defendants) are charged with physically assaulting a neighbor who resided on the second floor of their two-story tenement home.  The cousins pled not guilty and demanded a trial.  At trial, the victim testified that he was assaulted by the two men.  He further testified that he sustained physical injuries from the assault, to include bruising about his body and two black eyes.  Counsel vigorously cross-examined the victim, particularly about his failure to report the incident to the police until 3 days later; the many inconsistencies between his in-court testimony and handwritten police statement; and unexplained memory lapse regarding details of this event.  Thereafter, the two cousins testified.  Their testimony directly contradicted the victim’s allegation.  They specifically testified that they were awoken in the early morning hours from sounds of pounding on their apartment door. When the cousins answered the door, they discovered the alleged victim standing there, naked, highly intoxicated and apparently bleeding from the mouth.  The men testified that they told the alleged victim “to go upstairs to bed,” closed the door and returned to bed.  They had no contact with him until 3 days later when the police came to the house and arrested them for assault.  Following all of the testimony, the trial judge indicated that he found none of the witnesses’ testimony to be credible.  He characterized the two versions of events, as provided by the alleged victim and cousins, as irreconcilable. However, he found the men guilty on the basis of photos depicting the alleged victim with two black eyes.  Following this verdict – which was inconsistent with the evidence presented at trial – Counsel successfully argued that the case be filed for one year, a disposition normally offered at pretrial conferences to first-time offenders.  Providing the cousins do not have any further police contact for a period of one year, this matter will be expunged and no criminal conviction will be imposed from this incident. However, he found the men guilty on the basis of photos depicting the alleged victim with two black eyes. 



RESULT: Filed after Trial. Following this verdict – which was inconsistent with the evidence presented at trial – Counsel successfully argued that the case be filed for one year, a disposition normally offered at pretrial conferences to first-time offenders.  Providing the cousins do not have any further police contact for a period of one year, this matter will be expunged and no criminal conviction will be imposed from this incident.
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The Law Office of John L. Calcagni III offers clients representation in the areas of Criminal Defense, Military Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, OUI Defense in MA , and Assault and Battery matters. John L. Calcagni, III is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Please call (401) 351-5100 to arrange for a free consultation about your case. If you cannot make it to one of our offices, we will to come to your home or detention center.

Defense Attorney Calcagni announces successful defense of No Contact Order Violation case

Domestic Abuse and No Contact Order Violation Defense Attorney Calcagni resolves a case successfully for a client.


CASE: Abuse Prevention / No Contact Order Violation

Man has Abuse Prevention Order against him by his baby’s mother.  The estranged lovers accidentally encounter one another in a local bar.  Ex-girlfriend informs bouncer of pending order and requests that man be asked to leave.  When bouncer informs man of situation, he allegedly yells profanities at ex-girlfriend in front of several witnesses, to include an off-duty police officer.  As a result, man charged with Abuse Prevention Order violation.  Successfully negotiated dismissal of this charge on the morning of trial.

Result: DISMISSED



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The Law Office of John L. Calcagni III offers clients representation in the areas of Criminal Defense, Military Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, OUI Defense in MA , and Assault and Battery matters. John L. Calcagni, III is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Please call (401) 351-5100 to arrange for a free consultation about your case. If you cannot make it to one of our offices, we will to come to your home or detention center.