Ryan Sullivan

Former prosecutor. Now I’m the guy prosecutors don’t want to see. Criminal defense throughout Massachusetts. Co-chair MACDL. Lowell-rooted.

[Erkan & Sullivan @ErkanSullivan]

How we explain probable cause at a clerk magistrate hearing:
It’s the 40-yard line. Not a touchdown. Not the red zone. Not even the 50.
Just close enough that the magistrate can say there’s a real possibility it happened and you did it.
Which is why the real strategy isn’t what most people think.
https://t.co/8s29vZgfNk

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

SC Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh's murder convictions yesterday. Clerk of Court tampered with the jury while writing a book about the trial. Court called it "breathtaking" and "disgraceful."

He's unsympathetic. He still gets a fair trial. That's how the 6th Amendment works.

[Erkan & Sullivan @ErkanSullivan]

"For a non-citizen defendant, the right to remain in the United States may be more important than any jail sentence."

Mass. SJC, Lavrinenko, 473 Mass. 42.

Defense lawyers should read it that way too.

https://t.co/ysBd3JItw7

[Erkan & Sullivan @ErkanSullivan]

The Massachusetts Senate is debating the PROTECT Act this week.

In plain English: ICE would need a judicial warrant before arresting someone inside a state courthouse.

House passed 134-21 in March.

Watch this space.

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

Looking forward to speaking @MCLENewEngland on 05/07/2026. Hope you will join me! Learn more about the program here: https://t.co/nOXACUkqWy

[Erkan & Sullivan @ErkanSullivan]

Three takeaways from Commonwealth v. Mallory (No. 2):

1. Officer time sheets are public records. Get them.

2. Staleness runs to execution, not issuance. The seven-day rule is necessary, not sufficient.

3. Newly discovered evidence does not require a counsel of perfection.

https://t.co/JZMR2RdKae

[Erkan & Sullivan @ErkanSullivan]

What does a criminal defense lawyer do?

We protect people's civil liberties from government overreach.

In ordinary years, that sounds abstract. In these days, it does not.

[Erkan & Sullivan @ErkanSullivan]

"First they came for the immigrants, and we fought back, because we read the rest of the poem."

Nobody should take comfort from not being today's target.

That's today.

[Erkan & Sullivan @ErkanSullivan]

New SJC decision today: Commonwealth v. Arias.
Drug unit follows a man for six miles. He runs a stop sign. Officer decides not to stop him. Twenty-four hours later, same officer radios: "We're looking to stop a vehicle for a drug investigation." Uses yesterday's stop sign as the legal basis.
SJC: no. A traffic violation cannot hang over a suspect indefinitely until police decide it is convenient to use it.
Conviction vacated. Article 14 means something in Massachusetts.

[Erkan & Sullivan @ErkanSullivan]

Body worn cameras were sold as tools for accountability.
They work in both directions.
When an officer’s testimony at trial does not match what the camera recorded that night, cross examination writes itself.
Not guilty. OUI. Newburyport.

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

ICE made over 600 courthouse arrests in Mass in 2025. More than double the prior year. Lawmakers are moving toward a ban on courthouse enforcement.
Our client was grabbed mid-trial. The case against him was dismissed.
This is not an immigration debate. It is a due process one.

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

SJC rules life without parole is unconstitutional for adults under 21 https://t.co/cyarwJauM0 via @BostonGlobe

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

Authorities seek charges against 28 accused of buying sex from Cambridge, Watertown brothels https://t.co/FZMEADJ0Vn via @BostonGlobe

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

Contempt of Cop, @JoeMargulies https://t.co/Iu9CqQs7Sm via @VerdictJustia

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

@MassStatePolice Arrested for what?

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

@AyannaKim Glad to hear you are back on the circuit 🔥🔥🔥

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

@AyannaKim Well deserved! Hopefully it doesn’t impede your ability to be an expert!

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

@dadwroteaporno Little late on episode 46 of #2bears1cave, check it out @tomsegura @bertkreischer

[Ryan Sullivan @RyanSullivanLaw]

I had had so much fun watching @bertkreischer in Cape Cod. This guy either had way more fun or is more of a @tomsegura fan.

[MACDL @MassCrimDefense]

Public Defender March--Monday at 5, Malcolm X Boulevard, Roxbury MA. March for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and the countless other Black people who were murdered at the hands of the police.