The Appeals Court recently issued a decision in Commonwealth v. Raspberry, which affirmed the denial of the defendant’s motions to suppress guns seized from her vehicle. In the decision, the Appeals Court ruled (1) that the warrantless search of CSLI (cell site location information) by the police was justified pursuant…
In Commonwealth v. D.M., the Supreme Judicial Court reversed the single justice’s denial of the Commonwealth’s petition for relief from an interlocutory order of the Juvenile Court, requiring the Commonwealth to reveal the identity of an informant. The background was as follows. “Acting on information provided by a confidential informant, the…
In Commonwealth v. Monteiro, the Appeals Court reversed the suppression of items seized by the police from the defendant’s apartment because the judge erroneously ruled that “the information provided by a first-time, confidential police informant (CI) was [not] sufficiently corroborated by a single, imperfectly executed controlled ‘buy’ of cocaine for…
In a recent decision – Carpenter v. United States – the United States Supreme Court ruled that under the Fourth Amendment, the government must obtain a warrant supported by probable cause in order to procure from a telecommunication company the historical cell-site location information (CSLI) for a cellular telephone. The background…
In Collins v. Virginia, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that “the automobile exception [to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement] does not permit [a police] officer without a warrant to enter a home or its curtilage in order to search a vehicle therein.” The background was as follows. An officer…
In Commonwealth v. Hernandez, the Appeals Court affirmed the denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress a firearm seized by the police in the defendant’s apartment. In its decision, the Appeals Court ruled that “the defendant’s coinhabitant … validly consent[ed] to a warrantless search of a closed, unlocked suitcase located…
In Commonwealth v. Rivers, the Appeals Court ordered suppression of the defendant’s inculpatory statements to the police because they were induced by improper promises of leniency and, therefore, were not shown to be voluntary beyond a reasonable doubt. The background was as follows. The defendant was involved in “[a] group…
In a recent decision – Commonwealth v. Harris – the Appeals Court reversed the denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress a firearm seized by the police because the police lacked reasonable suspicion justifying the stop of the defendant. The basic facts were as follows. On the afternoon in question, three…
The Appeals Court recently issued a decision, Commonwealth v. Fredericq, relating to the cell site location information (CSLI). In its decision, the Court reversed in part and affirmed in part the trial court judge’s order suppressing evidence procured by the police by means of their warrantless tracking of CSLI data…
In Commonwealth v. Manha, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the defendant’s conviction of assault with a dangerous weapon. The SJC specifically ruled that the judge properly denied the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence seized by the police after stopping the defendant’s vehicle pursuant to a 911 call from a motorist…