Commonwealth v. C.C.

Police pulled over a car being driven by C.C. for a defective brake light. Officers claimed that when they stopped the car, C.C. leaned to his right towards the glovebox and disappeared from their view for 10-15 seconds. Upon approach, they noticed bullet holes in his car and while speaking to C.C. he told them he had recently been shot. The officers also claimed that C.C. was “shaking uncontrollably” and “sweating profusely” despite it being below 40 degrees. For all these reasons, police claimed to have been in fear for their safety so they removed him from the car and “frisked” his general area. During this frisk, police recovered a loaded firearm from the glovebox and placed C.C. under arrest. The defense filed a motion to suppress evidence and argued that the police were not credible in their testimony. Specifically, the defense pointed out that after retrieving C.C.’s paperwork, they turned their back on him and went to their patrol cars leaving him unattended in the car. Body camera footage was played for the judge in slow motion that showed C.C. acting calmly and not shaking at all. Further, it was shown that the officers only discussed searching the car after they ran his name through their computer and discovered that he had a criminal record. A judge agreed with the defense, found the officers not credible, and granted the defense motion to suppress evidence. All charges were dismissed- the third time in the last three years C.C. has prevailed on a gun case with Mr. Link.