{"id":2941,"date":"2023-03-16T20:21:35","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T00:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.delsignoredefense.com\/blog\/?p=2941"},"modified":"2023-03-16T20:21:35","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T00:21:35","slug":"massachusetts-sjc-will-address-how-to-prove-racial-profiling-in-upcoming-appeal-in-commonwealth-v-cuffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delsignoredefense.com\/blog\/massachusetts-sjc-will-address-how-to-prove-racial-profiling-in-upcoming-appeal-in-commonwealth-v-cuffee\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts SJC will address how to prove Racial Profiling in upcoming appeal in Commonwealth v. Cuffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Judicial Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is set to decide in the coming weeks on a very controversial and important criminal case. \u00a0Commonwealth v. Cuffee<\/em> is set to clarify some pending arguments regarding the state of Equal Protection rights in Massachusetts.\u00a0 Should a defendant have to prove racial profiling before he is allowed to request the statistical data to support his claim, or should the facts of the case allow him to make a reasonable inference to request the data?\u00a0 Does it matter if the profiling occurred during a traffic stop or a pedestrian stop?\u00a0 What if the defendant does not argue an unlawful search or seizure, does it matter if the officer was motivated by race?\u00a0 These are some of the questions the Supreme Judicial Court is tasked with answering. \u00a0You can watch a video<\/a> of the oral argument here.<\/p>\n

The defendant in this case, Mr. Kieson Cuffee, an African-American male, was arrested in 2019 and subsequently convicted after police received a ShotSpotter report.\u00a0\u00a0 The ShotSpotter reported an alleged incident of gunfire near a local intersection.\u00a0 \u00a0Kieson was running down the street, a few blocks away, in a fairly busy part of Springfield, then stopped and entered a local bodega.\u00a0 When detectives entered the area to investigate the initial report, they noticed Kieson running, possibly with something on his right side, and subsequently, stop and enter the bodega.\u00a0 At the time, the detectives had no indication that actual gunfire had occurred and had no description of any alleged suspects.\u00a0 Based on observing Kieson, they swung their unmarked car around, parked, and entered the store.\u00a0 There they cornered Kieson, violently attempted to detain him, and injured Kieson, all in under 30 seconds.\u00a0 Frightened and bleeding profusely, Kieson ran and was chased down and arrested shortly after.\u00a0 He was convicted and has appealed his case.<\/p>\n

After his arrest, Kieson\u2019s attorneys, utilizing the recent rulings in Commonwealth v. Long<\/em><\/a> and Commonwealth v. Lora, argued against the stop and requested records on the arresting detectives.\u00a0 Specifically, based on the facts surrounding the arrest, the history of the arresting department, and other factors required in Long to show a reasonable claim of selective enforcement of the law, they requested documents relating to the arresting detectives such as their police reports and field interview reports for a year leading up to the arrest of Kieson.\u00a0 Based on Long<\/em>, where the Supreme Judicial Court set out its desire to lower the burden on defendants to make a reasonable claim. \u00a0It seems to be a logical extension of the Long decision that the SJC would allow discovery to prove racial bias that violates the Equal Protection Clause.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Judicial Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is set to decide in the coming weeks on a very controversial and important criminal case. \u00a0Commonwealth v. Cuffee is set to clarify some pending arguments regarding the state of Equal Protection rights in Massachusetts.\u00a0 Should a defendant have to prove racial profiling before he is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-important-sjc-decisions"],"yoast_head":"\nMassachusetts SJC will address how to prove Racial Profiling in upcoming appeal in Commonwealth v. Cuffee — Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog — March 16, 2023<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Supreme Judicial Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is set to decide in the coming weeks on a very controversial and important criminal case. — March 16, 2023\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.delsignoredefense.com\/blog\/massachusetts-sjc-will-address-how-to-prove-racial-profiling-in-upcoming-appeal-in-commonwealth-v-cuffee\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Massachusetts SJC will address how to prove Racial Profiling in upcoming appeal in Commonwealth v. 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