Supreme Judicial Court hears challenge to search after Dobson traffic stop

The Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments in Commonwealth v. Sherry Maria Dobson over whether police improperly obtained consent to search a locked glove compartment after a traffic stop for tinted windows, defense counsel Kevin Sandorski told the court. Sandorski told the justices that multiple pat-frisks, ongoing custodial questioning without Miranda warnings and threats to damage the car coerced Dobson into handing over her keys, which led to a canine alert and the subsequent search.

The issue matters because the court must decide whether the glove-compartment search — and evidence discovered as a result — should be suppressed. If the court finds the consent was involuntary or that the stop was improperly extended before canine or probable-cause justification, suppression could affect the Commonwealth’s case against Dobson.

At argument, Sandorski outlined a sequence of events recorded on police video: officers stopped Dobson’s vehicle for tinted windows; officers observed what one described as a passenger making a furtive movement toward the center console and glove compartment; both passengers were ordered out of the car and…