CASE NOLLE PROSEQUI (DISMISSED) - MOTION TO SUPPRESS ALLOWED
Possession to Distribute Fentanyl / Cocaine, Subsequent Offense; Barnstable Superior Court; Commonwealth v. A.R.; September 9, 2026
A Massachusetts Parole Officer made entry into the Defendant's home and engaged in a search of both the home itself as well as the Defendant's belongings therein. It was alleged that, during the course of the search, the Parole Officer found a quantity of narcotics as well as paraphernalia consistent with the packaging and distribution of the narcotics. When the police arrived on scene, a struggle ensued and the Defendant was taken into custody. Ultimately the Defendant was arraigned in District Court and thereafter indicted in Superior Court on the charges of Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class A Substance (Fentanyl), Subsequent Offense; Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class B Substance (Methamphetamine), Subsequent Offense; and Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class B Substance (Cocaine), Subsequent Offense.
Attorney Ciraulo drafted, filed, and argued a Motion to Suppress Evidence in Barnstable Superior Court. Specifically, Attorney Ciraulo argued that the Parole Officer did not have the requisite reasonable suspicion to search the premises, the responding Police Officers did not have the requisite probable cause to search the premises, and the search warrant the officers obtained subsequent to the search was unlawful and constitutionally invalid. The Justice of the Superior Court agreed and the Defendant's Motion to Suppress Evidence was allowed.
The Office of the District Attorney appealed the decision of the Superior Court to a Single Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. The matter was then marked for further appellate review and ultimately heard before a panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Ultimately, the Court upheld the decision on the Motion to Suppress Evidence, the order suppressing for the use at trial all evidence seized as a result of the search was affirmed, and the Office of the District Attorney could not sustain its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
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