Court Opinion

ID: 9745050
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:30:27.283057+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:55.169330
License: Public Domain

Hennessey, C.J.
(dissenting, with whom Nolan and Lynch, JJ., join). I agree that it is incumbent upon the Commonwealth to prove that the consensual act occurred in a public place. However, this case describes a street incident toward which the majority opinion applies too narrow a view of the term “public place.” I suggest that there can ordinarily be no reasonable expectation of privacy in a case like this where an automobile maneuvers in an urban area. Scagliotti, cited by the majority, does not add strength to the majority opinion, because that case simply held that the public nature of the episode was a question of fact for proof by the prosecution. Indeed, in Scagliotti, despite substantial evidence of efforts toward privacy, this court held that the defendant was not entitled to a directed verdict on the “public place” issue. 373 Mass, at 629. I add that defendants similarly situated, in future cases, may not take much comfort from the instant case, since it seems clear to me that the majority opinion is suggesting that the Commonwealth could have made its case with a few, easily provable, added facts.