An Essex court officer was recently arraigned on multiple sexual assault charges and held on a $50,000 bail. The prosecutor claims that they have DNA evidence to prove the charges. The officer allegedly raped and beat a female inmate that was in his custody. All in all, he is charged with multiple accounts of rape, assault with intent to rape, indecent assault and battery and misleading investigators. These charges stretch from 2009 to 2014.
Negligence cases in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are usually seen as one individual’s behavior causing harm to someone else. For example, an inattentive driver striking a pedestrian or another car, or a surgeon accidentally leaving behind a surgical clamp in a patient. A less well known form of negligence consists of a failure to act when taking action would be necessary to prevent harm, or negligence that takes the form of failing to safeguard against dangerous physical conditions. These variations of negligence can often be found together in circumstances leading to a claim of premises liability.
A recent cruise ship accident on a coral reef in Bermuda was presumably caused by power failure; which caused a failure in the steering system. While none of the 2,500 passengers and crewmembers onboard was injured, it was surely an experience none of them want to have again.
Under Massachusetts law as it relates to premises liability, trespassers upon the property of another are generally not owed any duty of care on the part of the property owner. There is, however, one significant exception to this rule: child trespassers.
Automobile technology has been advancing in recent years that presages the “driverless car”. Cars can now parallel park themselves, and the latest innovations include cars that monitor your blind spots for you, tell you when you are deviating out of your lane, and in some imminent collision situations will even stop themselves if you do not hit the brakes in time. It is only a matter of time before technology matures sufficiently to take you out of the driving picture altogether. In fact, the Internet company Google is one of six companies that has prototype driverless cars on the road right now, working out the bugs in the technology that will ultimately render you obsolete as a driver.
Motorcycle operators and their passengers are at a distinct disadvantage in a motorcycle collision with a car or truck. Motorcyclists do not have the protection of a steel frame to protect them, so it is common for a Barnstable County motorcycle accident victim to receive catastrophic injuries.
If an individual is hurt on another person’s property, the property owner is generally held responsible for that injury. In some cases, someone who occupies an apartment may be held to the same standard that a landowner would be held to in a premises liability case. When determining the extent of a property owner’s liability, the law looks at whether or not the injured party was allowed to be on the property.
As some Massachusetts residents may recall an accident in 2013 resulted in the death of a teenager after he changed lanes to avoid debris on Interstate 91 near Springfield. The debris was identified as furniture that had fallen off a pickup truck. A superior court judge ruled that a manslaughter charge against the man who owned the pickup should stand.
Automobile Accident, Motorcycle Accident, Bicycle Accident
Bicycle Accidents
Pedestrian Accidents
Be Safe RulesMotorcycle Accident
Boating Accidents
Slip and Fall Accidents
Sports & School Injuries
Work-Related Injuries
Dog Bites
Sexual Abuse
Nursing Home Injuries
Insurance Disputes
Products Liability
Traumatic Brain Injures
Wrongful Death
Burn Injuries
Complex Pain Syndrome (RSD)