March 29, 2013

• Steven Topazio wrote this May 4, 2014 at 5:56 pm

The client, a 28 year old father of two, was arrested after State Troopers stopped the client’s motor vehicle after the Troopers concluded that they witnessed a street level drug sale, was represented by Boston Criminal Attorney Steven J. Topazio. Attorney Topazio attacked the case by filing a Motion to Suppress evidence arguing the motor vehicle stop not based on reasonable suspicion. According to the police report, the Trooper states that his attention was first drawn to two males described as “sickly looking males pacing back and forth” and to be “nervous and looking around.” The troopers saw nothing exchange between the parties to conclude a drug transaction had occurred. Nevertheless, the troopers after approximately ten minutes watching these individuals state in their police report that they see a “white female who they know to be a drug user, prostitute and person who middles narcotics deals in the Shirley Ave area of Revere”. According to the police report, the two males and this woman begin to quickly walk down Beach Street towards North Shore Road. At North Shore Road the two males split away from the female and walked towards the beach. The female gets into a white van the client was driving. The van thereafter pulled away from the curb. At no time does anything else happen. Nothing is observed passed. No furtive motions of any party are mentioned. Where the white female comes from is not mentioned. The trooper merely concludes that he “suspected that there was a narcotics transaction about to take place”, stopped the van and discovered cocaine in the van. Attorney Topazio argued that the motor vehicle stop not based on reasonable suspicion. Attorney Topazio pointed out that even if there eventually was reasonable suspicion when the troopers saw a piece of torn plastic baggie on the floor of the van, the troopers did not have reasonable suspicion before pursuit began, as required by law, citing Commonwealth v. Stoute, 422 Mass. 782 , 788-789 (1996). Today, Attorney Topazio was able to persuade the Commonwealth to reduce the charges and obtain a six month CWOF for his client on the lesser included offense of straight possession.