Order of Detention Under 58A Dangerousness Statute Vacated and Client Released

The defendant is nineteen years old. On August 22, 2022 he was driving a family member’s car. He had several passengers in the car. The police pulled him over for allegedly running through a stop sign. The officer claimed that all of the occupants got out of the vehicle without being asked. One of the officers reported that our client, the driver, permitted him to search the car. The same officer reported that while searching, he observed a firearm in plain view on the floor of the passenger side of the vehicle. Our client and the others were arrested and charged with violating G.L. c. 269 section 10(a), unlawful possession of a firearm. A conviction for this carries a mandatory eighteen month jail sentence. Represented by another lawyer, the defendant was detained under G.L. c. 276 section 58A, the Massachusetts “dangerousness” law. We were subsequently hired. Our investigation produced a videotape of the officer violating our clients rights by conducting a full, non consensual search of the vehicle and finding the gun tucked under the passenger seat, not in plain view. With this information, we convinced the judge to release our client.

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