Commonwealth v. Dunn

The Commonwealth appeals from an order of a District Court judge suppressing as evidence marihuana and paraphernalia found in a warrantless search of the passenger compartment of the defendant’s vehicle. The circumstances, as found by the judge in a thoughtful decision, and as then stipulated by the parties, were as follows:

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on March 9, 1991, a Saturday night, the defendant, driving in his pickup truck, was stopped by the Southwick police for speeding. Instead of stopping his truck on the side of the highway the defendant pulled into the parking lot of a closed…