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Appeals court presses Commonwealth on whether Xbox in backpack made frisk impracticable
Summary
In Commonwealth v. Graves the Commonwealth urged reversal of a suppression ruling, arguing video and officer testimony showed a bulky Xbox in an open, soft-sided backpack that made a pat-frisk futile; defense invoked Pagan and Rutledge principles, and the panel questioned whether the video alone supports a de novo factual finding.
Presiding Justice Ariane Bueno and the two-justice panel heard competing views over whether police should have frisked a defendant’s backpack before opening it.
Catherine Jansen, counsel for the Commonwealth, told the court the video and Detective Santos’ testimony show an Xbox protruding from a soft-sided backpack and argued that observation made a pat frisk “impracticable,” endorsing a direct search to locate a reported firearm. “You can see it’s taking…
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