Commonwealth v. Almeida

Suppression question

The case arose from firearms charges after Boston police approached a parked automobile late at night, ordered the driver out, and searched areas of the passenger compartment where a weapon could be reached.

Constitutional framework

The SJC applied the two-part Terry analysis: whether officers had specific and articulable grounds to initiate the inquiry and whether the scope of the protective search was reasonably tied to officer safety.

SJC holding

Considering the totality of the circumstances, the court upheld the threshold inquiry and concluded that the limited search of the area beneath the front seat and the console stayed within the protective purpose recognized by Massachusetts and federal search-and-seizure law.

Continuing relevance

The published opinion remains part of Massachusetts law governing automobile stops, protective sweeps for weapons, firearm suppression motions, and the boundary between an evidence search and an officer-safety search.

Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

← All representative matters · Request a review · Media archive