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Appeals court questions hotel-search law in Kearney suppression appeal
Summary
The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard arguments over whether hotel staff telling police they did not permit firearms in a room justified officers’ warrantless entry. Defense counsel urged reliance on Stoner v. California; the Commonwealth urged applying Commonwealth v. Molina. The court took the case under advisement.
A three-justice panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court heard argument in Commonwealth v. Thomas Kearney over whether police lawfully entered a hotel room after hotel staff told officers the hotel did not permit firearms.
The panel — which the bench introduced as consisting of Justice Ariane Bueno, Justice Rachel Hershfang and Justice Gloria Tam — heard conflicting legal arguments about notice and exigent circumstances. Attorney Jack P. Milgram, representing the appellant Thomas Kearney, argued the search should be suppressed because there was no evidence the defendant received actual or constructive notice that his hotel tenancy had been…
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