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Commonwealth v. Thomas

Citations

  • 429 Mass. 403
  • 708 N.E.2d 669
  • 1999 Mass. LEXIS 145

How courts have described this case

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

  • holding that because the defendant was free to terminate the interview, no seizure occurred when officer approached the defendant on a public street and asked him for his name and address
  • upholding warrantless visual body cavity search at police station because officer had, at the time he made search, probable cause to believe that defendant had cocaine hidden between his buttocks
  • upholding warrant-less visual body cavity search at police station because officer had, at the time he made search, probable cause to believe that defendant had cocaine hidden between his buttocks
  • police did not seize defendant merely by approaching him on public street and asking for his name and address
  • \[W]e conclude that probable cause is the appropriate standard to apply to strip and visual body cavity searches.\
  • “motion judge’s findings of fact are binding in the absence of clear error”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Abrams

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

43 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

26 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.