Harassment Prevention Order Reversed and Vacated by Appeals Court

The defendant and complainant are neighbors in a condominium complex in Lynn, Massachusetts. In February of 2017, before our office was retained a harassment prevention order under G.L. c. 258E issued against our client. It was alleged that she provided false reports about the complainant to the police, a school, and the Department of Children and Families, caused noise through banging on the ceiling, and took photographs of the complainant and her granddaughter even after she asked her to stop. The complainant alleged that such actions caused her to be frightened of the defendant. A judge in the Lynn District court credited those allegations. Attorney Neyman was hired to appeal the order. Today, in an unpublished decision the Appeals Court reversed the order holding “in our view, the judge did not have sufficient evidence before him on which to conclude that the plaintiff had made out such a claim. We therefore vacate the harassment prevention order and remand this matter to the District Court for that court to direct law enforcement agencies to destroy all records of the order”.

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