Search and seizure – Consent – Language barrier
Where two defendants have moved to suppress firearms that the police found in a home that was searched pursuant to a consent form, the motion should be allowed because the defendant who signed the form...
View ArticleTrial Court chief extends ‘Ananias’ judge’s authority in breath-test cases
District Court Judge Robert A. Brennan’s broad authority to hear challenges to the reliability of breath-test devices used by police in Massachusetts has been expressly extended under a Sept. 29 order...
View ArticleJudge ponders ‘big ask’ by defense bar in breath-test case
Judge Robert A. Brennan wanted answers to some fundamental questions at an Oct. 1 hearing in Peabody District Court regarding a criminal defense attorney’s motion for a statewide order suspending the...
View ArticleJudge orders statewide ban on breath tests
A District Court judge has issued an order suspending the use of breath-tests results in criminal cases throughout the state pending completion of another evidentiary hearing on the reliability of the...
View ArticleMotor vehicles – Breath tests – Reliability
Where defendants have moved to suspend the use of breath test results in criminal matters pending throughout the commonwealth, an evidentiary hearing should be held within 60 days on the substantive...
View Article‘Ananias’ judge lifts statewide ban on breath tests
A District Court judge has vacated his November emergency order suspending the use of breath-tests results in criminal cases throughout the state. “There is no merit to the Consolidated Defendants’...
View ArticleLicenses and permits – LTC – Restraining order
Where a petitioner’s license to carry (LTC) was revoked, the revocation should be vacated because the evidence does not establish that the defendant police chief had a “reasonable ground” for...
View ArticleSearch and seizure – Rental vehicle – Tow
Where (1) a state trooper pulled over a rental vehicle, (2) the trooper ordered the vehicle to be towed, and (3) a subsequent inventory search disclosed the presence of a loaded handgun, the defendant...
View ArticleSearch and seizure – Consent – Warrantless entry
Where a motion has been filed to suppress evidence found during a warrantless search, that motion should be allowed because consent to a police entry into the home was not voluntary. “… The evidence...
View ArticleSearch and seizure – Auxiliary police officers – Traffic stop
Where two auxiliary police officers in Whitman stopped a defendant’s vehicle for speeding, the evidence obtained as a result of the stop of the defendant’s vehicle must be suppressed because the...
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