Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Massachusetts Appeals Court addresses Pretextual Inventory Search under the 4th Amendment in recent ruling

March 27, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

Can the police stop your car without a good reason? The recently decided case of Commonwealth v. Lek sheds some light on this issue. In this case, the lower court denied a defendant’s motion to suppress an inventory search findings after police searched his car and found a firearm.

What happened in the Lek case?

An area of Lowell is considered a high gang area by local police. One night, Detective Sandoval and his partner were in plainclothes in an unmarked police car. According to Sandoval, he and his partner were looking for motor vehicle violations to address gang suppression through motor vehicle stops. Sandoval testified that he was not required to do traffic enforcement that night and was doing it by his own free will.

Massachusetts Appeals Court address when a Stop Frisk is permitted under the 4th Amendment

March 20, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

The irony of living in a high crime area is that it makes the innocent more susceptible to searches and arrests. The case of Commonwealth v. Karen K. looks at a juvenile who was searched based on a police officer’s assumptions about the local area.

What happened in the Karen K. case?

Karen K. is a juvenile who resides in the Boston area. On November 1st, 2018, a concerned resident of a housing complex called the Boston Police Department to report that a group of “kids” was loitering and displaying a gun outside the complex. Officer Lopes reported to the scene. He was familiar with the complex because he had made many arrests there in the past. Lopes had a negative connotation associated with this building, and police had responded to shots fired at the building that same week.

Massachusetts Appeals Court defines expectation of privacy under the 4th Amendment in Multi-family Home

March 12, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

Do You Have A Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in the Basement of a Multifamily Home That You Do Not Own?

The Fourth Amendment protects against places in which they have a subjective reasonable expectation of privacy. But when is this expectation unreasonable? The Appeals Court of Massachusetts, Bristol answered this question in Commonwealth v. DeJesus.

What happened in the DeJesus case?

Massachusetts Appeals Court explains when a failed breath test attempt can be admitted during an OUI trial

February 25, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

Breath test evidence is heavily contested in Massachusetts OUI trials. When someone takes a breath test, as a Massachusetts OUUI Lawyer, we attempt to exclude the results from evidence as being unreliable. But what happens if the machine does not register, is the failed attempt to take a breath test admissible and under what circumstances. That was the issue in the case of Commonwealth v. Daigle, the Massachusetts Appellate Court answered this question.

A failed breath test is admissible in certain circumstances. It is well settled that a defendant refusing to take a breath test is not admission against them during an OUI trial. However, if a defendant signs a consent form to take a breath test, a machine malfunction or other errors may be admissible, In the case of Commonwealth v. Curley, police officers alleged that the defendant was purposely blowing into a breathalyzer machine incorrectly as to inhibit the machine from producing a reading. Because the defendant in that case signed a consent form, the jury could infer from his actions that he waa trying to avoid giving a sample while appearing to try and take the test.

What happened in the Daigle case?

Are Body Cavity Searches a Violation of the Fourth Amendment?

February 22, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

The Fourth Amendment protects against government intrusion in the home and provides for a reasonable expectation of privacy. But does this protection extend to the most intimate areas of a person’s body? The case of Brown v. Wisconsin is pending before the Supreme Court and looks at the issue of whether police officers were justified in searching a woman’s vagina and anal cavity without a warrant. The Supreme Court of the United States must grant cert and decide whether the Fourth Amendment protects a person from unreasonable and humiliating searches by law enforcement officers.

What happened in the Brown case?

Sharon Brown is a Native American woman residing in Minnesota. In May of 2017, she was a passenger in her boyfriend’s car following a trip to Wal-Mart. The police stopped the vehicle after learning that her boyfriend allegedly shoplifted from the store. Despite her only being the passenger in the car, the police took her along with her boyfriend to jail and placed her in the holding cell. The jail’s policy allowed manual body-cavity searches without a warrant, probable cause, or exigency. Less than a day after Brown was detained, another detainee told a correctional officer, Steven Hillesheim, that Brown was hiding drugs. This detainee was a know liar and troublemaker. Hillesheim, however, did not investigate the legitimacy of these claims, despite Brown not having a history of drug use and being held in prison for shoplifting, an unrelated claim.

Racial Basis in Jury Selection Case May Be Decided by SCOTUS

February 20, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

Peremptory challenges are an essential tool used by trial lawyers. They allow an attorney to object to a proposed juror during selection without giving a reason or justification. However, when peremptory challenges are coupled with racial bias, dangerous results can occur. The case of Miles v. California is pending before the Supreme Court and asks the question of whether a court may consider reasons distinguishing stricken jurors from those accepted by the prosecutor when the prosecutor did not cite a reason.

What happened in the Miles case?

The Miles case concerns Johnny Duane Miles, a Black man charged with the rape and murder of a white woman. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to death. The issue here is not whether Miles was innocent or guilty, but instead whether Mile’s case would have turned out differently if the jury selection process was different. During jury selection, the prosecutor raised some eyebrows when he used peremptory challenges to remove every single Black juror from the main panel. The prosecutor tried to justify his strikes but it seemed that race was the only factor because the prosecutor even removed a young Black man named Simeon Greene, who had pro-prosecution and pro-law enforcement beliefs, which would help the prosecution.

Can a police officer search a person’s criminal record during a traffic stop under the 4th Amendment?

February 4, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable intrusion and promises that citizens will not have their “persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Carlisle v. Kentucky asks the question of whether courts can adopt a categorical rule allowing law enforcement to prolong every traffic stop by performing a criminal records check, or on the other hand, whether the Fourth Amendment requires an individualized, case-by-case approach that allows checks only when the government offers some evidence that the check related to the officer’s safety. The circuits are split concerning this issue. This case is current pending a petition for certiorari before the Untied States Supreme Court.

Five courts allow law enforcement to perform a criminal record check in every traffic stop in theory and agree that these checks are inherent to officer safety. On the other hand, two courts have adopted a case-by-case basis for officers searching a criminal record. These courts adopt the approach where the court will evaluate the specific circumstances of the particular stop to determine whether the officer’s safety was so at the risk that the search of criminal records was appropriate.

Does the Constitution Permit Zoom motions in Massachusetts?

January 27, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

Is it Constitutional to Conduct Evidentiary Hearings Over Zoom?

In John Vasquez Dias v. Commonwealth the question before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court was whether a criminal defendant’s constitutional rights are violated by a court choosing to pursue an evidentiary hearing, over the defendant’s objections, over Zoom. Vasquez Diaz was charged with drug trafficking and if convicted, he could face over a decade in prison.

What happened in Vasquez Diaz?

Can you be denied a Gun license based on a nonviolent misdemeanor offense under the Second Amendment?

January 14, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

Does the Second Amendment permit States to deprive someone of the right to bear arms for a misdemeanor offense? The right to bear arms is one that a large portion of Americans consider of the utmost importance. In Holloway v. Barr, a case pending before the United States Supreme Court on a petition for certiorari, Holloway argues that losing his Second Amendment rights due to a nonviolent misdemeanor is a constitutional violation.

A lifetime ban on firearms is a penalty most felons are handed as part of their punishment. The extent to which people who committed past crimes can be banned is an issue ripe with disagreement. Some believe the logic is that dangerous people should not be allowed to have firearms, so violent felons should be prohibited from using them. Another rationale for disarming former felons is that the individual lacks virtue, which is why they should not own a firearm.

What is the law concerning individuals with criminal records owning a firearm?

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decides Cell Site Location Information Case

January 10, 2021 | by Michael DelSignore

What type of cell phone information can the police obtain without a warrant? This is an important question under the 4th amendment that the Massachusetts Supreme Court recently addressed. Nowadays, nobody leaves their cell-phones out of their sight, and a cell phone is almost an extension of a person’s body. However, inside of your smartphone are powerful location tracking services, that “ping” your location whenever you are near a cell tower. The use of this data in criminal cases is controversial, and many would consider it an invasion of privacy. The Supreme Judicial Court recently decided a murder case involving cell site location information (CSLI) in Commonwealth v. Wilkerson.

What happened in Wilkerson?

The victim in this case was twenty-three year old Kristopher Rosa, who was a longtime rival of one of the defendant’s high school friends, Rhandisyn Lawrence. Lawrence and the victim had a rivalry that apparently stemmed from both of them dating the same woman, Mendes, who the victim later had a child with. In 2011, Lawrence and the defendant, Wilkerson, chased Rosa in cars when Rosa and his girlfriend were on the way to his mother’s house. He was shot in the chest while still driving and pronounced dead from a gunshot wound. The defendant was convicted of first degree murder of Rosa two years after the incident, when the defendant’s girlfriend called the police.