Justia Massachusetts Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Defendant was found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, resisting arrest, and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and subsequently convicted of being an armed career criminal. Defendant raised three issues on appeal. The court held that the Superior Court judge did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress the firearm, ammunition, and marijuana seized from his vehicle where there was ample probable cause to permit a search of defendant's motor vehicle under the automobile exception to the warrant. The court held, however, that defendant's convictions of unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm were duplicative, and his separate sentences for each crime violated the double jeopardy clause because he was punished twice for possession of the same ammunition. This error gave rise to a substantial risk of miscarriage of justice and therefore, defendant's conviction and sentence on the lesser included offense of unlawful possession of ammunition was vacated. The court further held that the requirement of licensing before one could possess a firearm or ammunition did not by itself render the licensing statute unconstitutional on its face and therefore, defendant's challenge to the Commonwealth's statutory licensing scheme failed. View "Commonwealth v. Johnson" on Justia Law