Appeals court hears challenge to dismissal after judge insisted fentanyl be produced at suppression hearing

An Appeals Court panel — led by Judge Vicki Henry and joined by Judges Hand and Brennan — heard arguments over whether a Boston Municipal Court judge abused his discretion by dismissing Commonwealth v. Jesus Caraballo Nieves for lack of prosecution after the judge insisted the alleged fentanyl be brought into a suppression hearing.

The issue matters because trial-court policies that bar bringing fentanyl into courthouses intersect with a judge’s authority to require particular proof at a suppression hearing. The parties asked the panel to decide whether a judge may treat the absence of a particular type of evidence as a basis for dismissal, or whether alternative proof (officer testimony, photographs or video) suffices under existing law.

Attorney Kenneth Steinfeld, arguing for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, told the panel the record does not support dismissal for lack of prosecution and invoked the state Supreme Judicial Court standard from Pimentel. Steinfeld said the trial-court policy banning fentanyl from the courtroom meant the Commonwealth had no obligation to produce the physical drug and instead could rely on…