Alleged Home Invasion In Lowell Leads To Arrest Of Two Men
Officers responded to the Highland section of Lowell to a report of a man possessing a firearm in a Honda. After the police pulled the Honda over, two men fled and were eventually captured and charged with committing an armed home invasion. Despite a thorough search of the area it does not appear that the firearm was recovered.
If you have been charged with possession of a firearm you must contact a Massachusetts criminal attorney immediately. In order for the prosecution to prove that you possessed a firearm they must establish that the firearm was capable of discharging a bullet and the firearm must be under a certain length. Strategies to successfully defend such a charge include demonstrating that the firearm could not be fired without repair by a skilled ballistician.
An experienced attorney will also review the facts of your particular case in order to determine whether the government can prove that you actually possessed the firearm. Under Massachusetts law the prosecution must prove that you exerted actual, joint or constructive possession of the firearm. Possession is determined by whether you had knowledge of the existence of the firearm and possessed the ability to exert control over it.
With this crime, as with many crimes that require the prosecution to prove possession, it is important for a skilled attorney to also attack the manner in which the firearm was seized from the defendant. State and Federal Constitutional law provide all citizens with the right to be from all unreasonable search and seizures. The filing of a motion to suppress evidence seized as the result of an unlawful search and seizure is an effective method to successfully defend firearm cases in Massachusetts.
