Massachusetts Criminal Defense · Worcester County, Massachusetts 508-450-5545  ·  cashmanlawoffice@gmail.com

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Everything on this site, organized in one place — articles, videos, books, legal tools and answers to the questions clients ask most.

Your Case, Your Rights
Free · for clients & families

Your Case, Your Rights

The 32-page guide every client of this office receives at the start of a case: your rights with the authority behind each one, what to do and not do while a case is open, and what happens from arraignment through trial. General information, not legal advice.

Download the guidePDF · 32 pages · 442 KB

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions clients ask.

The police want to talk to me. Should I?

Not without speaking to a lawyer first. You can decline politely, and declining is not evidence of guilt. Call this office before any interview, whether or not you have been arrested.

I have not been charged yet. Is it too early to call a lawyer?

No. Some of the most useful work in a criminal case happens before charges issue — at a clerk-magistrate hearing, during an investigation, or when police first make contact.

What happens at arraignment?

The charges are read, a not-guilty plea is entered, and the court sets bail and conditions of release. It is not a trial and it is not the day anything is decided about guilt.

How long will my case take?

It depends on the court, the charges, and what the case requires. District Court cases commonly run several months to a year; Superior Court cases commonly run longer.

Will I have to go to trial?

Most Massachusetts criminal cases resolve without a trial. Whether to try a case is your decision, made after we review the evidence and the realistic alternatives together.

Do you handle cases outside Worcester County?

Yes. The office is in Worcester and most of the practice is in Worcester County and central Massachusetts, but I take cases anywhere in the Commonwealth. Thirty-one years of Massachusetts practice has meant appearing in District Court and Superior Court across the state, and eleven of those years were spent prosecuting — most recently homicides in Hampden County. If your case is outside Worcester County, call and ask.

You were a prosecutor. Why does that matter to me?

Eleven of these 31 years were spent prosecuting — including homicide cases for the Hampden County District Attorney's Office through 2026. That means knowing how the Commonwealth builds a file, what a prosecutor is actually worried about, and where the pressure points sit in a negotiation — from the inside.

Do you offer consultations?

Yes. Use the consultation form or call 508-450-5545 to arrange a time to discuss your situation.

These resources are general information. Nothing on this site is legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Cashman Legal. If you are facing charges, talk to a lawyer about your own case.

Guides to Massachusetts criminal procedure

Plain-language explanations of how Massachusetts criminal procedure actually works, written with citations to the statutes and decisions they rest on.

What happens after an arrest in Massachusetts

Arraignment, bail, dangerousness hearings, and the clerk-magistrate hearing that can end a case before it starts.

How Massachusetts murder and manslaughter charges work

The degrees, felony-murder after Commonwealth v. Brown, sentencing and parole, and the automatic appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court.

How a Massachusetts criminal case moves from charge to appeal

What the prosecutor must disclose, how motions to suppress work under article 14, the speedy trial clock, jury size, and appeal deadlines.

What a continuance without a finding really means

What you admit to, what happens when you complete it, and why it still counts as a conviction for immigration and for counting prior OUIs.

Sealing a Massachusetts criminal record

Waiting periods, how an acquittal differs from a dismissal, and the timing detail that gets most applications turned away.

Request a Consultation

Discuss your case with an experienced criminal defense attorney.

Every case begins with a conversation. Tell me what you are facing and I will tell you honestly what I think.