Commonwealth v. Brown

The defendant was a passenger in a taxicab that was pulled over by a State trooper for a routine traffic violation. Because the defendant was not wearing a seat belt, the trooper asked for his license, which the defendant stated he did not have. Perceiving the defendant to be “nervous,” the trooper *529ordered the defendant to step out of the vehicle. During the ensuing patfrisk, the trooper found a firearm. A judge of the Superior Court denied the defendant’s motion to suppress. A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court granted the defendant’s application for leave to pursue this…