Commonwealth v. M.F. – Brockton District Court

By The Law Offices of Gerald J. Noonan | September 11, 2019

FELONY DRUG CHARGE AGAINST DEFENDANT WHO WAS A PASSENGER IN A CAR WITH 15 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA AND $68,000 IN CASH IS REDUCED TO MISDEMEANOR OFFENSE OF SIMPLE POSSESSION AND WILL BE DISMISSED AFTER 6 MONTHS OF PROBATION WITH NO CONVICTION

In August of 2017, Brockton Police pulled a vehicle over for not having an inspection sticker. The vehicle had three occupants: the operator, a front seat passenger, and a backseat passenger. As officers approached the vehicle, they claimed to have seen silhouettes of the occupants moving their upper torsos from side to side and looking back at the officers. Upon approaching the vehicle, police observed a marijuana blunt burning in the ashtray. Police observed a backpack on the floor behind the driver’s seat. The officer asked if the backpack contained any weapons, whereupon the operator was alleged to have suddenly turned around to retrieve the backpack, causing officers to supposedly fear for their safety. Under the guise of fearing for their safety, officers ordered all three occupants to exit the vehicle. Inside the backpack, officers found 362 grams of marijuana. Officers searched the trunk and found 15 bags of marijuana totaling 15 pounds. Finally, officers found over $68,000 in cash in the vehicle. All three defendants were charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Class D-Marijuana (G.L. c. 94C, 32C) and Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws (G.L. c. 94C, §40).

Result: The three defendants filed a Motion to Suppress the evidence (i.e., the marijuana) arguing, among other things, that the evidence was obtained as a result of an unlawful search and seizure. The hearing on the Motion to Suppress had been scheduled five times. The fifth time that the Motion to Suppress had been scheduled, the Commonwealth offered to reduce the Defendant’s felony charge to the misdemeanor offense of simple possession of marijuana and to dismiss the case after six-months of unsupervised probation. If the Defendant stays out of trouble for six months, the case will be dismissed resulting in no conviction.