Commonwealth v. Black

The defendant was charged in the Orange Division of the District Court Department with using a “steel jaw leghold trap” in violation of G. L. c. 131, § 80A (1986 ed.). Pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 13, 378 Mass. 871 (1978), the defendant moved to dismiss the complaint arguing that his trap, a Woodstream Soft Catch Trapping System, 2 is not a “steel jaw leghold trap” prohibited by § 80A. After hearing argument on the motion, examining the trap in question, and reviewing the affidavits and memoranda of law submitted by the parties, the District Court judge found that the “soft catch trapping…