Justices weigh whether CJIS search can prove lack of gun license in Commonwealth v. Quentin Smith

The Judicial - Supreme Court heard argument in Commonwealth v. Quentin Smith on whether a search of the Commonwealth's firearms licensing database (CJIS) and testimony about that search provided sufficient, admissible evidence that the defendant lacked a license to carry.

The issue arose during argument over whether the Commonwealth established a link between the database search result and the defendant and whether testimony about the absence of a record in the database is hearsay or otherwise barred by the Confrontation Clause.

Edward Crane, counsel for Quentin Smith, told the justices that the record lacks foundational facts tying the search result to the defendant: "There was insufficient evidence to link the result of this search to the defendant," Crane said, noting that there was no testimony of the defendant's date of birth, no testimony about how the defendant spells his name, and no testimony from the search operator of exactly what parameters were entered.

Crane argued the trial judge erred by denying a required-finding motion because the Commonwealth did not introduce evidence establishing that the biographical information used to run the CJIS query matched…