Commonwealth v. Bates

This appeal presents the question whether there was an emergency justifying officers of the Newbury-port police to enter a missing woman’s apartment without a warrant. Upon entry they found the defendant lying intoxicated on a couch, his body covering a handgun and some ammunition. They also found another gun in a closet of a different room of the apartment. In his appeal from two convictions of unlawful possession of a firearm (one for each gun) and from his conviction of unlawful possession of ammunition, the defendant claims the motion judge erred in denying his motion to suppress the guns…