State v. Matos

The State appeals from a ruling of the Superior Court (Hampsey, J.) granting the defendant’s motion to suppress on the grounds that police officers failed to comply with the knock and announce rule. We reverse.

The facts are essentially undisputed. In February 1990, the Nashua police began a narcotics investigation involving Matthew Couris. An undercover detective made three purchases of cocaine from Couris at his apartment. Each time, Couris left his apartment and returned “a few minutes later” with the cocaine in several “street packages,” each weighing approximately one-sixteenth of an…