Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts – May 29, 2012
Facts: The
defendant, Carolos Morales, was suspected of selling heroin out of a tan Ford
Explorer. Following pursuit by police officers, the defendant pulled over and
was observed leaning over to his right and placing his hands behind and
underneath his torso, seemingly concealing something behind his right side of
his torso. During an exterior pat down outside of the defendant’s shorts, the
detective felt a lump between his buttocks, which did not appear to be a
weapon. The detective walked the defendant to a more secluded area and pulled
back the waistband to the defendant’s shorts and observed a clear plastic bag
containing a tan powder protruding from between his buttocks. A struggle ensued
between the defendant and the detective. Eventually, with the assistance of
other officers, the detective was able to handcuff the defendant’s arms behind
his back. The detective then pulled back the waistband of the defendant’s
shorts, exposing his buttocks to public view in doing so, and retrieved the bag
from between the defendant’s buttocks. The defendant moved to suppress the
drugs seized from him, claiming that the drugs were obtained as the result of
an unlawful search in violation of the Fourth and
Fourteenth Amendments to the Unite States Constitution,
articles 12 and 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, and G.L. c. 276,
§ 1.
Issue: Whether
the search of the defendant was unlawful, thereby requiring the evidence
acquired from such an unlawful search to be suppressed for the purpose of
trial.
Yes. Searches incident to an arrest may be unconstitutional
notwithstanding the lawful arrest because they involve inspections of such a
highly personal nature or are conducted in such a manner as to constitute an
unreasonable intrusion on an individual’s privacy. This action involved unconsented
to police observation of the defendant’s intimate private area and also the
public exposure of those areas. The test of unreasonableness under the Fourth
Amendment is not capable of a price definition or mechanical application. How a
search is conducted is of the utmost importance, with the least amount of
intrusion constituting the better practice. When possible, a private room is
preferable. At all times the potential harm to a detainee’s health and dignity
should be taken into account in assessing the reasonableness of the intrusion.
Upon external inspection, the detective determined the lump in the rear of the
defendant’s shorts was not a weapon. With no exigency existing, the defendant
should have been transported to a private space or location. The manner, in
which the search proceeded, whereby the defendant’s buttocks were publicly
exposed, in the absence of exigent circumstances, was unreasonable. (JT)
