Massachusetts Appeals Court
March 2, 2011
78 Mass.App.Ct. 860
Search and Seizure, Motor vehicle, Operating under the influence, Registration, Administrative Law, Regulations
The defendant was arrested after he was stopped per a Registry of Motor Vehicle (RMV) regulation that prohibited any portion of a Massachusetts license plate from being blocked by a frame. The defendant was subsequently charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, failure to properly display registration plates, and a safety standard violation for a cracked windshield. The District Court judge granted the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence finding that the regulation upon which the trooper based his stop of the defendant exceeded the authority of the enabling statute. After a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court granted the Commonwealth’s motion for interlocutory appeal, the Appeals Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court.
