A Massachusetts gun charge can proceed as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed a Dorchester District Court judge's decision allowing a motion to suppress. The case of Commonwealth v. Messiah Franklin, decided May 17, 2010, raised the issue of when a individual is seized under Article 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.
In Franklin, the police observed two black men while the police were driving in a Ford Crown Victoria. The defendant's began looking around when they saw the Ford police car. The defendants then began to run. The officer chased the defendants and caught the defendant before he could climb a fence. A gun was found on the other side of the fence which the police allege that the defendant threw over the fence. The defendant's Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer filed a motion to suppress, attempting to have the gun excluded from evidence as the product of an unlawful search and seizure.
The issue in the case was whether the defendant was seized when the police officers began to run after the defendant. Under the United States Supreme Court interpretation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the defendant was clearly not seized as the United States Supreme Court held in a case called California v. Hodari D, 499 U.S. 621 (1991), that a person who does not submit to a show of authority cannot be seized until physically detained by the police. Interpreting the Massachusetts State Constitution, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected the reasoning of Hodari D and has held that a seizure occurs when the police communicate to an individual that they are not free to leave whether or not they actually submit to the authority of the police.
The SJC concluded that the defendant was not seized because the defendant's flight was not prompted by any show of authority by the police. The court concluded that a seizure occurred when the defendant was grabbed trying to climb the fence; however at that point, the court found that the officer possessed reasonable suspicion to seize the defendant. It is likely that since the motion to suppress is now denied the defendants will have to decide whether to go to trial or attempt to resolve the case through a plea agreement.
Attorney DelSignore represents individuals charged with guns, drugs and weapons offenses throughout Massachusetts, including Brockton, Quincy, Fall River and Boston courts. Charges involving drug and weapons offenses typically involve motions to suppress and exclude evidence. Attorney DelSignore will vigorously represent you to avoid the serious consequences associated with these Massachusetts criminal offenses.
