Can copyrighting one's name protect one from criminal prosecution?

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Massachusetts.

An acquaintance of mine told me that he has copyrighted his own name. He recently ran into some legal trouble, and is facing criminal charges here. He believes the charges will be dropped when the D.A. finds out about his copyright, because, as he puts it, "if they use my name in any of their legal documents, I can charge them up to $500,000 per use."

Is he correct? Does this sort of copyright (i.e., copyrighting one's own name) protect an individual from criminal prosecution?

Ahhhhh....no.

In a word, no. Although your friend might plead stupidity...

Does this sort of copyright (i.e., copyrighting one's own name) protect an individual from criminal prosecution?

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Of course not. Nobody can copyright a name. Anyway the prosecutors can use copyrighted material in a court of law in much the same way a journalist can use excerpted material: Fair use. (There might (or should) even be a codified exception for criminal prosecutions.)