Commonwealth v. Peter L. – Boston Municipal Court

ATTORNEY PATRICK J. NOONAN WINS NOT GUILTY VERDICT IN ASSAULT & BATTERY CASE AFTER PROVING HIS CLIENT ACTED IN SELF-DEFENSE.

Boston Police responded to the parking lot at the Logan Airport for a report of an Assault and Battery (G.L. c. 265, §13A) stemming from a dispute between two limo drivers. At the scene, police spoke to the alleged victim, a female limo driver. She reported that the Defendant confronted her in the parking lot because her vehicle was parked too close to his vehicle. She claimed that the Defendant demanded that she move her vehicle. When she refused, the Defendant became irate; he forcefully opened her car door, and continued yelling at her. She claimed that the Defendant cornered her and backed her up against her vehicle so she couldn’t escape. She claimed that the Defendant violently pushed her, causing her to fall down and strike her head against the pavement. On scene, police observed a fresh abrasion to her head. At trial, Commonwealth introduced photos showing the physical injuries to her head.

Result: At trial, Attorney Patrick J. Noonan presented compelling evidence convincing the judge that his client acted in self-defense. Attorney Noonan introduced evidence that the victim was the aggressor. Attorney Noonan called an independent witness who testified that he saw the victim yelling in the Defendant’s face and she was pointing her finger in his face several times. The Defendant testified that the victim’s finger made physical contact with his nose. The Defendant asked the victim several times to stop pointing her finger in his face. When she continued yelling and pointing her finger in his face, Defendant acted reasonably in pushing her back. He made it clear to the court that his only intent was to get her to back up out of his face. He had no intention of hurting her. Attorney Noonan thoroughly discredited the victim by showing that she was motivated by money. Within a week of the incident, she hired an Attorney to sue the Defendant to get money from him. By the time of trial, she retained another civil attorney to sue the Defendant. She embellished her injuries so she could sue him for even more money. She even went so far as to claim that she suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. By the time Attorney Noonan was done with her, her credibility was destroyed. The Judge found that the Commonwealth failed to prove that the Defendant did not act in self-defense.