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Law Offices of Colin Keefe

38 Mulberry Street
Leeds, MA 01053
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(Minutes from Downtown Northampton)

Phone: 413-584-4473
24/7 Availability
Reasonable Rates

AMEX/Discover/Mastercard/Visa


Show Cause Hearings/ Police Investigations

The Police have incriminating evidence against you.
This does not necessarily mean charges will be filed against you.

The purpose of a Show Cause Hearing is to determine if there is enough evidence to issue a complaint and move forward with charges against you.  In Massachusetts you have a right to a Show Cause Hearing for most misdemeanors for which you have not been arrested.

Attorney Keefe has the skill and experience to give you strong legal protection in this intricate area of law.

Why Hire a Lawyer?
To the uninformed, a Show Cause Hearing seems deceptively informal.  A fact the Police and Prosecution take full advantage of.  In fact, Show Cause Hearings are an important stage in the criminal law process.  Police, Prosecutor, Alleged Victim, any witnesses, and the Accused are allowed to present and contest evidence before a magistrate. Important to remember is that any statements made by the accused at this stage can be used against him or her.  The benefit of having a skilled experienced Criminal Defense Attorney on your side far outweighs the early expense of hiring an attorney.  Arguments presented during the Show Cause Hearing result in the clerk magistrate either issuing a complaint and pursuing charges against you or dismissing the charges.

Attorney Keefe has often been successful at getting clerks to Not Issue a Complaint even when there is probable cause found.

If the case is dismissed at this stage the charges will never be placed on the clients record.  Even if charges are not dropped, a skilled experienced Criminal Defense Attorney will have protected the client and the clients witnesses from inadvertently helping the prosecution.  The attorney will also learn the evidence gathered against the client in order to start preparing an effective defense strategy immediately.