Alan P. Caplan
Attorney at Law
Email: alan@alancaplan.com
© Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved. Member Massachusetts Bar
United States v. Jimmy Eagle:
I represented Jimmy Eagle at his preliminary hearing in federal court in Rapid City, South Dakota on charges that he murdered two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation, and supervised and coordinated the early stages of the effort to investigate and prepare defenses for Native Americans wrongfully accused of causing the agents' deaths.
United States v. Doherty:
Mr. Doherty was charged with two armed bank robberies in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts. I represented him in separate trials in which each jury found him Not Guilty.
United States v. Etherton:
Mr. Etherton was also charged with armed bank robbery in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts. I represented him at trial in which he was found Not Guilty.
United States v. James Paradise:
Mr. Paradise was charged with two counts of threatening to kill federal judges, and in another count of threatening to blow up the United States Courthouse in Boston. After a trial, the jury found Mr. Paradise "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity" of all charges.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Hogan:
Mr. Hogan, a member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club ("HAMC") had been sentenced to serve a 36-40 year term in State Prison. I represented him in his appeal of that conviction. The Supreme Court of Massachusetts reversed the guilty findings and granted him a new trial, after which I successfully negotiated a favorable plea that included other still pending charges and resulted in his release with "time-served".
Close v. Harvard University:
I filed a Civil Rights Action against Harvard University on behalf of a group of Harvard graduate students, after University administrators began to destroy student files and records that contained recommendations (often negative) made by faculty members to prospective employers. They did so out of fear of a new federal law, the "Buckley Amendment", which guaranteed students access to their personal files. After a hearing on our Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, the University gave-in and agreed to a consent-order terminating all destruction of student files and records.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. McKenzie:
I represented a young man charged under the Massachusetts "Begetting Statute", which imposed criminal penalties on a man who fathered a child "out of wedlock", but did not similarly sanction the woman who actually gave birth to the child. He was convicted in the trial court after my motion to dismiss on Equal Protection constitutional grounds was denied. On appeal, the Massachusetts Supreme Court reversed the conviction declaring the law unconstitutional based on my argument that because the "criminal act" was having engaged in sexual intercourse whereby a baby was conceived, it was a denial of Equal Protection to send the man to jail for that act and not the woman.
United States v. Barger, et. al.:
I defended Albert Lee Perryman, an Oakland, California HAMC member, who together with 17 others (of the 33 who were indicted), went to trial in federal court in San Francisco on charges of RICO and related drug, weapons and violence allegations. This was one of the very earliest RICO prosecutions -- at the time there were only 7 reported appellate decisions interpreting the law. After a 9 month trial in which I served with 3 other attorneys as "lead counsel", the jurors were "hung" 9-3 for acquittal. The retrial of Mr. Perryman and 11 others began in September, 1980, and lasted for 6 months. The jurors were again hung 9-3 for acquittal, after which all charges were dismissed against him with prejudice. This case also marked the initiation of a professional association and personal friendship with the late Cathy "Cat" Bennett, which lasted until her untimely death from in 1992. Cathy was an "apostle", among the very first to develop and implement modern techniques in jury selection. She selflessly taught a generation of lawyers to integrate these techniques into their trial strategies.
United States v. Apker, et. al.:
I represented HAMC member Gary Apker, and served as lead counsel in an 8 defendant trial in the Omaha, Nebraska federal court where they were charged in an extensive drug and weapons conspiracy. After a 3 month jury trial, the defendants were acquitted of all of the drug charges except misdemeanor possession for personal use. Mr. Apker was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, which subjected him to a maximum penalty of 2 years of imprisonment.
State of Ohio v. Gentry:
I represented Mr. Gentry, an HAMC member, who was charged with the aggravated murder of a member of another motorcycle club in Toledo, Ohio, allegedly as a part of his initiation into the HAMC. The prosecution's chief witness was a person who had been an HAMC member for 12 years. Mr. Gentry was acquitted by the jury after a 3 week trial.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLING OF CASES LITIGATED
1972 - 1978
1979 - 1984