Commonwealth v. Pinto (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-017-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-12134 COMMONWEALTH vs. BRUNO PINTO. Suffolk. November 9, 2016. – January 23, 2017. Present: Gants, C.J., Botsford, Lenk, Hines, Gaziano, Lowy, & Budd, JJ. Firearms. Constitutional Law, Search and seizure, Investigatory stop, Reasonable suspicion. Search and Seizure, Motor vehicle, Reasonable suspicion, Threshold police inquiry. Threshold Police Inquiry. Complaints received and sworn to in the Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court Department on April 25, 2013, and June 6, 2013. A pretrial motion to suppress evidence was heard by Eleanor C. Sinnott, J., and the cases were tried before her. The Supreme Judicial Court granted an application for direct appellate review. Rebecca Kiley, Committee for Public Counsel Services, for the defendant. Amanda Teo, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. LOWY, J. A jury convicted the defendant, Bruno Pinto, on two counts of unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, G. L. c. 269, § 10 (n), and one count of possession of a firearm without a license, G. L. c. 269, § 10 (a).[1],[2] The defendant’s sole argument on appeal is that the search of his vehicle was illegal because the Commonwealth failed to demonstrate the police had reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop. We agree, and therefore, we reverse the convictions and the order denying the motion to suppress the fruits of that search. Background. We summarize the facts found by the motion judge, supplemented by uncontested testimony from the suppression hearing. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 461 Mass. 44, 45-46 (2011). The stop. While on uniformed patrol in the South Boston section of Boston, Officers Kluziak and Fonseca of the Boston police department received a radio broadcast informing them to be on the lookout for a white Infiniti motor vehicle with Massachusetts license plate number “FF720.”[3] According to the broadcast, someone connected with the vehicle was wanted for an alleged domestic assault and battery. The broadcast also advised that the person might be in possession of two firearms and might be heading towards his mother’s house on Orton Marotta Way. Approximately two hours after the broadcast, the officers encountered a white Infiniti with license plate number “FF720” in the area of Orton Marotta Way and stopped it on St. Casimir Street. Kluziak ordered both individuals in the vehicle to place their hands in view for safety reasons. Both the defendant, who […]