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MA: Nexus to drug dealer having drugs at home not shown where drugs were delivered by car

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

State failed to show nexus between defendant's drug dealing activities and his house. He was once seen leaving the house three days earlier to get in his car to go to a drop, and that was it. Commonwealth v. Pina, 2009 Mass. LEXIS 43 (March 19, 2009): It is generally true that the connection between the items to be seized and the place to be searched does not have to be based on direct observation. Safioleas had considerable experience in the methods and practices of drug delivery services and in his affidavit provided an informative context in which to evaluate the manner in which the defendant conducted the drug sale observed by police. The information, nevertheless, that a defendant's actions may be consistent with a commonly known type of drug delivery service does not, without more, create a sufficient probability that this particular defendant kept a supply of drugs at his home...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 21, 2009 (boomark / email).