Commmonwealth v. Carpinto
Commmonwealth v. Carpinto
Opinion of the Court
The Commonwealth appeals from an order of the District Court allowing the defendant's motion to dismiss a criminal complaint charging him with violating G. L. c. 90, § 24(1)(a )(1), by operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as defined in G. L. c. 94C, or the vapors of glue. Because we conclude that there was probable cause for the complaint to issue, we vacate the order dismissing the complaint.
Background. The application for the criminal complaint was submitted with a "case/incident report" from the Salem police department. The report stated that Officer Max Zirin responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident on March 19, 2016.
Zirin informed the defendant that he suspected that the defendant was impaired and that Zirin would be asking the defendant to perform field sobriety tests. The defendant appeared to nod off two times while Zirin explained the tests to him.
Zirin left the defendant with another officer while he continued his investigation by interviewing the witness who had telephoned the police about the defendant's driving. The witness stated that he had been behind the defendant's vehicle and noted that it was "all over the road" and had a flat tire. When the witness's vehicle and the defendant's vehicle stopped at an intersection, the defendant remained stopped for so long that the witness "got worried." The witness exited his car to see if the defendant was all right. The witness thought that he must have startled the defendant because, when approached, the defendant " 'gunned' [his vehicle] right off the road, onto the sidewalk, and into a tree."
When Zirin returned to the defendant, he had fallen asleep while leaning on his vehicle. Zirin then placed him in custody, and the defendant was transported to Salem Hospital. Zirin requested a drug evaluation expert to assist in the postarrest evaluation. Zirin's drug influence report indicates that he perceived the effects of the drug to be "[e]xtreme."
Discussion. The motion judge allowed the defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint with a margin endorsement indicating that he (the judge) made his decision after having reviewed the complaint and the police report. The sole issue before us is whether the judge erred in determining that there was not probable cause to support the complaint. "[P]robable cause exists where ... the facts and circumstances within the knowledge of the police are enough to warrant a prudent person in believing that the individual arrested has committed or was committing an offense." Commonwealth v. Stewart,
While the Commonwealth contends that there was enough evidence presented in the police report submitted in support of the complaint to establish probable cause, the defendant argues that the motion judge was correct in dismissing the complaint because the complaint does not specify that the defendant was under the influence of a specific drug that is prohibited by G. L. c. 94C, § 1. At the probable cause stage, this level of specificity is not required. "Probable cause [to arrest] does not require the same type of specific evidence of each element of the offense as would be needed to support a conviction." Commonwealth v. Jones,
Order allowing motion to dismiss vacated.
It appears that the application for the complaint was also accompanied by a drug influence report (labeled as an "[a]lcohol [i]nfluence [r]eport"), although the judge made no reference to it in his margin endorsement.
At oral argument, the Commonwealth acknowledged that at trial it will need to establish that the defendant was under the influence of one of the drugs enumerated in G. L. c. 94C, § 1, to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Ferola,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.