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Commonwealth v. Rodriguez

Citations

  • 75 Mass. App. Ct. 235
  • 913 N.E.2d 880
  • 2009 Mass. App. LEXIS 1163

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

  • holding that officers had probable cause to arrest defendant because “they observed the defendant attempting to swallow something” and, “(b)ased on their training and experience, [they] reasonably believed that the defendant was trying to swallow narcotics”
  • finding non-harmless error where jury’s only method of determining weight without relying on certificates would be “guesswork” on a “close question”
  • testifying officer not asked to identify substance based on his experience as narcotics officer
  • where officer not asked to identify marijuana based on his experience as narcotics officer, admission of drug certificate not harmless beyond reasonable doubt
  • defense theory premised on substance to be that stated in certificates supports finding of harmless error
  • detective testified some of the substances were field tested and found to be cocaine; error harmless

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Kafker

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

13 cases in this archive cite this case.

Cites

32 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.