Appeals court considers whether exit order and car search were justified after traffic stop

The state appeals court on Wednesday heard argument in Commonwealth v. Atwary on whether police properly ordered a driver out of a car and searched the interior after a motor-vehicle stop for alleged tinted windows and an abrupt turn. Attorney David Rotondo argued for the defendant; Assistant District Attorney Anne Kennedy represented the Commonwealth. Justices Rubin, DeAngelo and Toome presided.

Rotondo told the court officers approached during daylight hours on a busy street and did not have weapons drawn, and said the record lacks authority to justify approaching a vehicle with firearms out of mere reference to a "high-crime area." "I would argue that at that point there was not a heightened sense of a safety concern," Rotondo said. He…