Dukes County Criminal Defense Lawyers

Dukes County has some of the richest history in Massachusetts and is one of the smallest counties in the state. The county was given political jurisdiction to two British nobles by an English monarch. It was Thomas Mayhew, from the Massachusetts Bay Company who purchased the county from these British nobles in 1641. Mayhew was a smart man who carefully established a colony in his new domain and he included his new colony with the old political infrastructure. Then in 1665, Mayhew’s land was included in a grant to the Duke of York. In 1671, a settlement was arranged, allowing Mayhew to continue his rule while also placing his territory under his jurisdiction of the Province of New York. Therefore Dukes County was then established as Dukes County, New York in 1683. Then in 1691, all of Mayhew’s lands – Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands to Massachusetts. The 1695 incorporation statute created a county, “by the name of Dukes County,” as opposed to the standard form “the county of Dukes” which is the reason for the redundancy in the formal name, “County of Dukes County.”

In the last ten years there were 2,327 total crimes reported in Dukes County, Massachusetts. 227 of those crimes reported were violent. Those crimes are broken down to 1 murder, 10 rapes, and almost two thousand thefts, including 99 auto thefts. Of the 291 crimes that happen every year in Dukes County, nearly one-half occur less than one mile from home. On average, someone is a victim of a crime in Dukes County, Massachusetts 291 times a year. With such significant crimes happening in the small area, it is important to have a smart, dependable criminal defense attorney who can help you and provide the best legal representation available.

The court systems in Dukes include the Dukes County Superior Court that serves Shire Towns and Edgartown, located on 81 Main St., P.O. Box 1267. The Edgartown Division, which has the same location of the Superior Court, has jurisdiction over the included towns of the island of Martha’s Vineyard, and the town of Gosnold, which includes all the Elizabeth Islands.

The Law Office of Patrick J. Murphy has nearly twenty years of criminal defense experience providing expert legal representation for clients charged with crimes in Massachusetts and he provides legal representation in Dukes County. Boston criminal defense lawyer Patrick J. Murphy's law office is conveniently located at One South Market Street, Fourth Floor in downtown Boston. Dukes County and Attorney Murphy’s office are only a short distance away from each other. Attorney Murphy also resides on the South Shore and is also available to meet clients locally. If you would like a free, confidential consultation regarding your criminal case contact Attorney Murphy 24/7 directly at (617) 367-0450 or complete the contacts tab on the website today.