Commonwealth v. Tejeda

A complaint issued charging Defendant with misleading a police officer. The charge arose from Defendant’s act of picking up a small bag of what was believed to be heroin and swallowing it in full view of a police officer. A municipal court judge dismissed the count. The Appeals Court vacated the dismissal. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of the trial court judge allowing the motion to dismiss, holding (1) misleading conduct within the meaning of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 268, 13B is conduct that is intended to create a false impression such that it was reasonably likely to send investigators in the wrong direction; and (2) in the instant case, Defendant’s actions were not misleading within the meaning of the statute. View "Commonwealth v. Tejeda" on Justia Law