Commonwealth v. Hilaire

*784 At issue is whether there was reasonable suspicion to stop the defendant and search his backpack several *785 hours after an armed home invasion had occurred nearby. Taking judicial notice of demographic data he located on his own initiative, the Superior Court judge concluded there was reasonable suspicion and denied the defendant's motion to suppress. The demographic data should not have been relied upon, both because the judge should not have expanded the factual record with independent research taken on his own initiative without notice to the parties and because they were not relevant.…