State’s Top 10 busiest District Courts offer venue for rich, famous, quirky

While there is no perfect science for calculating which court in Massachusetts is the busiest, Exhibit A has compiled a list of those District Courts that have handled the most criminal cases from 2005 to 2007.

1. Springfield District Court:
38,355 criminal cases

This court has heard more criminal cases than any other in Massachusetts since 2005. But a unique one made it onto the docket in June when Donald P. Whitney, the clerk of Hampden Juvenile Court, found himself on the other side of the law after he was arrested for assaulting a roommate with a yard rake.

2. Worcester District Court:
34,870 criminal cases

Don’t give officials any grief when you come to the second busiest courthouse on the list. We are told that former World Boxing Association super welterweight boxing champ Jose Antonio Rivera works here as a security officer.

3. Brockton District Court:
27,816 criminal cases

In a drug case that drew coverage by “Entertainment Tonight,” Us Weekly and others in the gossip media, former New Edition and reality TV star Bobby Brown had his cocaine possession case heard here in February.

4. Fall River District Court:
27,294 criminal cases

In the courthouse that was once home to the city’s high school, rapper Trevor Smith Jr., a.k.a. Busta Rhymes, came to Fall River to answer charges that he assaulted a woman during a 2002 concert. He pleaded no contest and received six months’ probation.

5. Lawrence District Court:
25,977 criminal cases

Lawrence City Councilor Grisel Silva recently played the role of criminal defendant after pleading not guilty to ramming her estranged husband’s SUV with her Ford Focus while he was driving with his girlfriend. She was released on personal recognizance and was ordered to stay away from the alleged victims.

6. Boston Municipal
Court/Central Division:

25,578 criminal cases

Two men who got into a fistfight during a Boston Pops performance were able to resolve their differences before a BMC clerk-magistrate in June 2007. The fisticuffs, which allegedly occurred in the second balcony of swanky Symphony Hall, prompted conductor Keith Lockhart to stop his performance while police escorted the men out of the building.

7. Lowell District Court:
25,367 criminal cases

Days after his team was defeated in the 2008 Super Bowl, New England Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews faced a judge in Lowell on charges he illegally possessed a half-pound of marijuana.

8. Dorchester District Court:
25,024 criminal cases

Due to an increase in witness intimidation, this courthouse - in 2007 - became the first in the state to ban the use of cell phone cameras.

9. New Bedford District Court:
24,969 criminal cases

Ralph Tavares of the 1970s’ music disco family “Tavares” has worked here in the Whaling City’s courthouse as a court officer.

10. Quincy District Court:
23,776 criminal cases

While not a criminal case, a lawsuit filed in this courthouse by a consumer rights advocate, who took on a ticket reseller in 2007 over prices the consumer activist believed to be in violation of the state’s anti-scalping laws, proved successful.

- David E. Frank

SOURCE: Massachusetts Trial Court website. The information reflects the number of new criminal complaints brought during fiscal years 2005, 2006 and 2007.