Motion to Suppress Unlawful Search of a Motor Vehicle and Seizure of a Handgun Against Traveling Nurse Allowed

The defendant is a registered nurse who travels from state to state working in hospitals and providing acute care for seriously ill people. She is properly licensed to carry a firearm in her home state. She often works in violent neighborhoods in large cities. Her hours vary. At times her shifts end late at night or in the early morning hours. Consequently, she carries a handgun for protection. Several months ago she was working in a Boston suburb. After a 12 hour shift she returned to her hotel room. She had dinner and went to sleep. At that time she was sharing a room with another nurse whose boyfriend was staying with them in the hotel. The other nurse went to work. Our client went to sleep around 8:30 at night. She kept her gun and car keys in her pocketbook, next to her in her hotel room. While she was sleeping, the boyfriend took her pocketbook, left the hotel room and took her car for a ride. He got into an accident. The police arrived, interrogated the man and searched the car and its contents. Inside the pocketbook they found the gun. The man identified our client as the owner of the gun. The police then went to her hotel room and interrogated her. Their investigation led them to charge our client with unlawful possession of a handgun, a crime under G.L. c. 269 section 10(a). She was also charged with improper storage of a firearm under G.L. c. 140 section 131L and unlawful possession of ammunition, G.L. c. 269 section 10(h). Today, Attorney Stephen Neyman argued a motion to suppress the search and seizure. The judge agreed that the police acted unlawfully and in violation of our client’s constitutional rights.

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