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Panel questions whether street pursuit was a seizure in Pires suppression argument
Summary
Counsel for Levon Pires urged the Appeals Court to suppress evidence because a single‑officer pursuit and attendant comments, the defense said, amounted to a seizure; the Commonwealth argued the short, casual pursuit did not meet the legal standard for seizure and that prior‑shooting evidence was admitted for a limited contextual purpose.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court on Dec. 4 heard argument in Commonwealth v. Pires about whether police conduct during a brief street pursuit amounted to a seizure and whether certain evidence admitted at trial (a nearby shooting and a Snapchat post) was prejudicial without a limiting instruction.
Attorney Zendroski, representing Levon Pires, told the panel the facts support treating the chase as a seizure because an officer approached, called out to the defendant and then followed him on foot; Zendroski argued the combination of pursuit plus…
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