Commonwealth v. R.S.

The defendant was charged with gun offenses (VUFA) after police alleged they observed her in the rear seat of a car with five other occupants dropping a purse that visibly contained a .45 caliber handgun.  The purse contained the defendant’s drivers license and credit cards in her name. The defense successfully challenged the credibility of the arresting officer and presented evidence from police radio calls from other motorists who had actually reported seeing one of the male occupants with the gun. The defense argued that the male occupant stuffed the gun into the purse when police stopped the car, without knowledge of the defendant. When they couldn’t get anyone to give a statement incriminating the male, they arrested the female and fabricated her holding the purse and dropping it to the floor. The defendant, a practicing nurse and mother of three, was found not guilty of all charges.