Commonwealth v. Monteiro

The precise point at which an encounter between the police and the public “constitutes an intrusion of constitutional dimensions requiring justification,” Commonwealth v. Stoute, 422 Mass. 782, 789 (1996), continues to challenge courts, law enforcement officials, and defense counsel as the factual circumstances underlying cases raised on appeal remain as varied as human conduct itself. Here, the Commonwealth appeals the allowance of the defendant’s motion to suppress physical evidence, a firearm, discarded by the running defendant under conditions which we recount in full.

Factual background.…