Commonwealth v. Spence

The defendant appeals from his conviction of possession of heroin with intent to distribute on the ground that the search of the defendant’s person and the seizure of the heroin was unlawful and that the seized evidence should have been suppressed. We transferred the case from the Appeals Court on our own motion. We reverse.

We summarize the facts as found by the judge on the motion to suppress. On August 19,1986, at about 3 p.m. , State Trooper William Johnson received a telephone call from a secretary in *180the State police office at Logan Airport. The secretary informed Johnson that William…