Commonwealth v. Rogers

The touchstone of any case like this is the reasonableness of the police conduct. If the conduct viewed objectively is reasonable, the police have violated no right, constitutional or otherwise. See Commonwealth v. Sanna, 424 Mass. 92, 98 (1997); Commonwealth v. Cantalupo, 380 Mass. 173, 178 (1980). The conduct of the Springfield police here was eminently reasonable, and the court, in failing to recognize it as such, has strayed from acceptable norms.

Officer Ellsworth was called on to investigate a crime reported at 4:40 a.m. by a woman (Lucy Dysili) who, in great distress, informed him that…