SPRINGFIELD — An Amherst attorney charged in three separate incidents of alleged sexual assaults in Hampden County communities will have to stand trial on each, according to a decision by Hampden Superior Court Judge Richard J. Carey.
James J. Martin, an attorney who practices in Springfield and who formerly made his home at 115 South St., Granby, is facing one count of rape and several counts of indecent assault and battery on persons 14 and over that allegedly occurred between December 2015 and June 2016. Martin has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and is free on personal recognizance. A jury trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 27.
Despite Assistant District Attorney Eileen M. Sears arguing that there should be one trial on all the charges, Carey, in a ruling made July 17, sided with defense attorney Alan Black of Northampton. At a June 25 hearing, Black, who is representing Martin, argued that there should be a separate trial for each alleged incident.
One woman alleges Martin forced her to perform a sex act after she went to his Springfield office to discuss her divorce June 6, 2016. Another woman alleges Martin, who was her court-appointed attorney in a criminal case, assaulted her in an alley in Holyoke in May 2016.
Martin is also charged with assaulting a woman involved in a foreclosure case in Westfield on Nov. 9, 2015.
In December 2016, an attempt by Martin’s legal team to disqualify the Hampden County district attorney’s office from prosecuting the case because Martin and his wife, Courtney, have represented parties in criminal cases in the county, was denied, allowing the cases to move forward.
On his website, Martin describes himself as specializing in family and criminal law and personal injury claim, and being “a proud graduate” of the University of Georgia and Western New England College School of Law.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
