Veterans Criminal Defense Attorney Massachusetts

Over 30 Years Defending Veterans and Service Members in Massachusetts Courts

For over 30 years, we have defended people charged with crimes across Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, including many veterans, in the regular courts and in Veterans Treatment Court. We know the diversion options, the treatment courts, and the VA resources that can change how a case ends.

Understanding Your Situation

Being charged with a crime is frightening for anyone. For someone who served, it can land in a particular way. You were trained to follow the rules, to protect others, and to handle things yourself, and now you are the one being judged by a system you once stood up to defend.

You may feel ashamed, angry, or numb. You may not want to talk about your service at all, and you may not trust anyone who says they understand. All of that makes sense, and none of it means something is wrong with you.

Here is what most people do not know. Massachusetts law gives people with military service specific options that civilians do not have, including diversion programs that can end with the charges dismissed. Those options are narrower than many people believe, and some of them depend on what happens at or before the very first court date.

That is why the most important thing you can do right now is let your lawyer know you served, as early as possible. The rest we can work through together.

Why This Work Matters to Me

My father was a Vietnam veteran. He rarely spoke about his own service. He became a psychiatrist, and he spent much of his career treating fellow veterans.

When I began representing veterans in my practice, he started to open up a little. We talked about our work and what it meant to help the people we were each trying to help. He never told me about his own experiences in Vietnam, and I believe he carried a heavy burden for the rest of his life.

I think about him when a veteran sits down across from me. I have represented many veterans over the years, including in Veterans Treatment Court.

I also helped create and produce Military Service Day at General George S. Patton's homestead in Hamilton, a free public event that honors veterans and their families and raises awareness of what they carry. The Boston Globe covered the year we dedicated the day to Joanne Holbrook Patton, who gave the homestead to the town and spent decades supporting military families.

The event now presents the Dr. Howard E. Stone Jr. Award for Excellence in Veteran Mental Health Treatment, named for my father. We also award the Joanne Holbrook Patton Writing Prize to high school and college students, so the next generation keeps telling these stories.

-Ernie Stone

How Military Service Can Shape a Criminal Case

Service changes people, and not always in ways they can see themselves. Post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, and the weight of things done or witnessed can all follow a person home. So can the struggle with alcohol or drugs that often grows up around them.

These experiences can show up in the moment of an arrest. Hypervigilance can look like hostility to a police officer who does not know what he is seeing. A startle response can look like resistance. A flat, guarded manner in court can look like indifference when it is really self-protection.

Our job is to make sure the court sees the whole person, not just the worst few minutes of one day. We do not use your service as an excuse. We use it to explain, and to open doors that the law has built specifically for people who served.

Diversion: Options That Can Keep a Charge Off Your Record

Diversion moves a case out of the ordinary court track and into a program of treatment and support. When the program is completed, the case can be dismissed. Massachusetts has more than one path to diversion for people with military service, and each has its own rules.

Diversion Before Your First Court Date

Massachusetts law requires prosecutors to maintain a diversion program that can be used for veterans and active duty service members before a case ever reaches arraignment. Whether a case is offered this option is the prosecution's decision. Raising it early, and in the right way, is part of our work.

Diversion Through the Court

The District Court and the Boston Municipal Court can also divert a case for a veteran, an active duty service member, or anyone with a history of military service. At or before your first court date, probation is required to make its best efforts to confirm your military status.

To qualify, you generally cannot have an adult criminal conviction, other than traffic violations that could not carry jail time. You also cannot have other pending cases, open warrants, or appeals. A program must then recommend that you would benefit from participating.

A veteran or service member may be given up to 30 days for an assessment by the VA or another agency experienced in veterans' needs. If you have shown signs of a mental health condition, a qualified clinician prepares a written report for the judge.

If the judge approves diversion, the case is put on hold for 90 days while you complete the program. That period can be extended for up to 90 more days. When the program reports that you have completed it, the judge can dismiss the charges.

Two protections matter here. Diversion only happens with your written consent, given with your lawyer's advice. And what you say during the assessment cannot be used against you in the criminal case, and cannot be shared with the prosecutor or police in connection with the charges.

Charges That Are Not Eligible for Court Diversion

Since 2018, court diversion has been closed to several kinds of charges. These include charges that can carry more than five years of incarceration, charges with a mandatory minimum sentence, and charges that by law cannot be continued without a finding or placed on file. A list of excluded offenses also includes OUI.

This is where much of the information online is out of date. A second-offense OUI, for example, is not eligible for court diversion. A simple assault or assault and battery charge remains eligible.

If your charge is excluded, that does not mean the door is closed. It means the path runs through other options, which we cover below.

The First-Offense OUI Exception for Veterans

There is one important exception for OUI. A veteran or active duty service member charged with a first-offense OUI can be considered for court diversion if two things are true.

First, you have never before been arrested for or charged with OUI, in Massachusetts or anywhere else, including before any military authority. Second, you have been clinically diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, a substance use disorder, or a serious mental illness connected to your military service. Serious mental illness includes post-traumatic stress and other trauma-related conditions.

The judge must consider the prosecutor's opinion, and probation checks whether you have used this exception before. If it fits your situation, documenting the diagnosis and its connection to your service becomes a central part of the case. Our OUI defense page covers the rest of what an OUI charge involves.

Veterans Treatment Courts

Veterans Treatment Courts are special sessions built for people with a history of military service. The court, probation, treatment providers, and the VA work together to address what sits underneath the charge, including post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, and military sexual trauma.

They are demanding. Participants commit to staying away from drugs and alcohol, following a treatment plan, and appearing before the judge every week. In exchange, they get structure, support, and a team that understands where they have been.

There are seven Veterans Treatment Courts in Massachusetts. The Essex County court sits at Lawrence District Court, the Middlesex County court sits at Framingham District Court, and Boston's sits at the Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court. If your case is in a court without one, transferring it may be possible.

Whether Veterans Treatment Court is right for you is a real decision with real tradeoffs. We will talk it through with you honestly before you commit to anything.

When Diversion Is Not Available

Not every case qualifies for diversion, and not every veteran wants it. That does not mean your service stops mattering.

The law allows the judge to consider the recommendations of anyone who has diagnosed or treated you when deciding on a sentence. A careful evaluation, a treatment plan already underway, and a clear picture of your service can change the outcome of a case even at the end.

We work with a vetted network of clinicians, treatment programs, and evaluators. When a referral will help, we can make a specific one at the moment you need it.

VA Benefits and Other Consequences

Many veterans worry first about their VA benefits. Under federal rules, VA disability compensation is reduced for a veteran who is incarcerated for more than 60 days for a felony conviction. VA defines a felony as an offense punishable by more than one year, unless the state where the case is prosecuted classifies it as a misdemeanor.

In Massachusetts, only crimes punishable by state prison are felonies. Many charges that carry house of correction time are misdemeanors under Massachusetts law. Whether a particular charge counts as a felony for VA purposes depends on how Massachusetts classifies it, and we will look at that with you.

A charge is not a conviction, and most cases never come close to these consequences. Knowing what is actually at stake lets you make decisions from information rather than fear.

If you are on active duty, in the Guard, or in the Reserve, a civilian charge may also raise questions with your command. We do not handle courts-martial or other military proceedings. Our focus is the civilian criminal case, and we will work to help you understand how it may affect your service and your benefits.

Help for Veterans and Families

You do not have to carry this alone, and neither does your family. These resources exist for exactly this moment.

● VA Veterans Justice Outreach. The VA has specialists who work with veterans involved in the court system. For the North Shore, the nearest team is at the Bedford VA.

● Your local Veterans Service Officer. Massachusetts cities and towns have Veterans Service Officers who can help with benefits and services.

● The Veterans Crisis Line. If you or someone you love is in crisis, call 988 and press 1, or text 838255. It is free, confidential, and answered around the clock.

If you are a spouse, parent, or child calling about someone you love, we will treat you with the same care. Families are often the support a veteran needs most, and they are hurting too.

If You've Just Been Charged and You Served

Take a breath. You have more options than you may think, and the next few days matter. Here is where to start.

● Tell your lawyer you served. Do it right away, even if your service feels unrelated to the charge.

● Gather your DD-214. Or any other proof of service, including Guard or Reserve records.

● Do not discuss the case with police. Be polite, and ask to speak with a lawyer.

● Write down any VA treatment. Note providers, diagnoses, and medications, current or past.

● Do not assume your discharge status rules you out. Court diversion covers anyone with a history of military service.

● Do not post about the case. That includes social media and group chats.

● Follow every bail or release condition exactly. A violation can close doors that are open now.

● Consider reaching out to the VA. Starting treatment early is good for you, and it can matter to the court.

● Let someone you trust know what is happening. Isolation makes everything heavier.

● Get the date of your first court appearance. Some options depend on what happens at or before arraignment.

Call us at (978) 969-2890. Phones answered 24/7 by a real person.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to have an honorable discharge to qualify for diversion?

No. Court diversion is available to veterans, active duty service members, and anyone with a history of military service, as long as the other requirements are met.

Will what I tell the VA evaluator be used against me?

Statements made during a diversion assessment cannot be used against you in the criminal case, and cannot be shared with the prosecutor or police in connection with the charges. We will walk you through the process before it begins.

Can a second OUI be diverted for a veteran?

No. Since 2018, court diversion is not available for a charge that cannot be continued without a finding, and a second-offense OUI cannot be. Other options, including Veterans Treatment Court and a treatment-focused approach to sentencing, may still be available.

Do you handle military court cases?

No. We do not handle courts-martial or other military proceedings. We defend service members and veterans in Massachusetts civilian criminal courts.