Appeals court hears challenge to seizure in parking-lot encounter in Commonwealth v. Benjie Guerrier
November 04, 2025 | Judicial - Appeals Court Oral Arguments, Judicial, Massachusetts
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Attorney Kevin Casola, representing Guerrier, urged the panel to view the video evidence independently. Casola said two police cars' positioning, an officer's approach to the passenger-side door, repeated questions about firearms and an officer's physical grab of the driver combined to create a coercive environment that would make a reasonable person feel they could not leave. "When he gets to that door, mister Guerrier does not believe that he is free to leave," Casola said, urging the court to treat the encounter as a seizure at that earlier point and to assess whether reasonable suspicion existed then.
Assistant District Attorney Jamie Michael Charles told the court the officers were responding to a larger group at a known hotspot and that Lieutenant Capazzo's focused approach to the car was safety-driven and not intended to detain every occupant. Charles argued the record and the judge's findings showed the seizure did not occur until later conduct, including flight and an observed weapon, created reasonable suspicion for pursuit.
Justices pressed counsel on which objective acts directed at the defendant should control the seizure analysis and whether the presence of nearby vehicles, by themselves, create a Fourth Amendment seizure. The court took the matter under advisement.
Provenance: Defense direction to video evidence at 00:54:40 and Commonwealth's response at 01:10:52.
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