Commonwealth v. Lopez

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a police officer's warrantless entry into a motel room, treated as the defendant's home, constituted a search under art. 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. The court concluded that the unknown woman who consented to the entry lacked actual authority, and that the officer's belief in her apparent authority was not objectively reasonable without further inquiry. The court affirmed the order suppressing the firearm and marijuana seized after the unlawful entry.

Holdings

1. A warrantless police entry into a motel room that serves as a person's home is an intrusion constituting a search in the constitutional sense, regardless of whether the officer intended to conduct a search upon entering.
2. The woman did not have apparent authority to consent to the officer's entry because the facts known to the officer created ambiguity about her relationship to the premises, triggering a duty of diligent inquiry that the officer ignored.
3. Because the warrantless entry was not supported by valid consent based on actual or apparent authority, the entry violated article 14 and the District Court properly suppressed the firearm and marijuana.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a police officer's warrantless entry into a motel room used as the defendant's home constituted a search in the constitutional sense when the officer entered intending only to retrieve a needle.
2. Whether the unidentified woman who opened the door had apparent authority to consent to the officer's warrantless entry under article 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.
3. Whether the firearm and marijuana discovered after the entry were subject to suppression.

Disposition

affirmed