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MA: ?There is no ?firearm exception? to the general rule barring investigatory stops and frisks on the sole basis of an anonymous tip?

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

An uncorroborated anonymous tip that a man pointed a gun in the air but never fired it was not sufficient to justify a stop and frisk. Commonwealth v. Gomes, 2010 Mass. LEXIS 872 (November 17, 2010), aff'g Commonwealth v. Gomes, 75 Mass. App. Ct. 791, 917 N.E.2d 231 (2009): The Commonwealth’s failure to introduce a recording of the 911 telephone call at the suppression hearing hampered the ability of the parties and the judge properly to address the caller’s reliability. Compare Commonwealth v. Mubdi, 456 Mass. 385, 396-397, 923 N.E.2d 1004 (2010) (where recording of 911 call not played at suppression hearing, court’s assessment of caller’s basis of knowledge and veracity was limited), with Commonwealth v. Depina, 456 Mass...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 24, 2010 (boomark / email).