Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts

Re: Accessory before the fact

You can speak with the lawyer but the lawyer can not speak with you about your son without your son's consent. The lawyer can recommend counseling to the Judge if your son is in agreement. You have to remember that the lawyer has to represent your son and can only advocate for something that your son is willing to do. If the cases were tried and your son was found guilty then the court can order anything and everything that he or she feels is necessary. But if your son is going to admit to the charges, he would have to agree to the counseling. Many times, conditions can be agreed upon if the other alternative is a jail sentence. Hope that this helps. Martha Kovner

Re: Accessory before the fact

I've read Attorney Kovner's reply, and I agree with her on most points, but I'm not sure I take such a narrow view of your son's attorney's role. There are a number of people who will likely be involved in the ultimate disposition of this matter, including probation officers, district attorneys and others. I don't know what approach your son and his attorney will want to take in your son's defense, but sometimes attorneys lobby probation officers or district attorneys in advance of the case being ultimately resoived, in an effort to try to get the support of these court participants for things like treatment as a condition of the disposition of a matter. The idea in that regard is to try to get everyone on board and present a consensus of opinion to the judge when it's time for him/her to make a ruling. Attorney Korver is absolutely correct that your son is the person with the ultimate say-so on how he wants to proceed, but it strikes me -- and this is only my opinion -- that maybe you should try to have that conversation with the attorney, and let him/her decide what to do with the information.