Commonwealth v. Guaba

This is an interlocutory appeal from an allowance of the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence. The motion judge, holding that the search of an apartment pursuant to a validly issued warrant constituted a warrantless search due to the failure of the police to possess the warrant in hand at the commencement of the search, ordered the suppression of the evidence seized during the search. Because we agree that, under art. 14 of the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution, law enforcement officials are required to possess a copy of the warrant in hand when executing a search…