Man arrested in Walpole

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midas

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http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/...rested-for-possessing-firearms-samurai-sword/

'Police initially stopped Duhaime for having a Colorado license plate with an expired Massachusetts registration sticker on the plate.

It is unknown if Duhaime has committed a crime, or was planning to commit one. Police are working to uncover a reason or a motive for having so many weapons.'

So an expired MA registration sticker is probable cause for search? Unknown if he has committed a crime, but they still search car and arrest? WTF?

I bet the guy was preparing for Halloween[grin]
 
Last edited:
midas said:
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/...rested-for-possessing-firearms-samurai-sword/

'Police initially stopped Duhaime for having a Colorado license plate with an expired Massachusetts registration sticker on the plate.

It is unknown if Duhaime has committed a crime, or was planning to commit one. Police are working to uncover a reason or a motive for having so many weapons.'

So an expired MA registration sticker is probable cause for search? Unknown if he has committed a crime, but they still search car and arrest? WTF?
Click to expand...

A Mass validation sticker doesn't belong on a Colorado plate.
I'd say that was suspicious looking.
 
I guess you didn't even bother to read what you wrote. [rolleyes]

Colorado license plate with an expired Massachusetts registration sticker on the plate
Click to expand...

I bolded the important parts above.

MA doesn't issue registration stickers to be put on Colorado plates and vice versa!

The fact that the sticker didn't match the plate and it was expired tells me that this was good police work.

Likely stolen plate, sticker, car or any mix of the above.

To start with expired Reg in MA = Uninsured and that means a Police Tow which legally allows a custodial inventory of everything in the car.

Read this article, it might have more info.

http://walpole.patch.com/articles/routine-car-stop-yields-loaded-gun-5-illegal-edged-knives

RI resident in MA with a loaded gun and No MA NR LTC, illegal.

Driving unregistered/uninsured car, illegal.

Affixing a MA registration tag on the wrong plate (CO plate), illegal.

The black mask and gloves in the car also lead to suspicion that he wasn't preparing for a Halloween costume ball.

I'm not going to be surprised if the gun, knives and sword are found to be stolen too.

Sure sounds like a good stop to me.
 
It also said he worked in the area,has he been a problem before?
I do think it is funny that they would need to know why he was there(this is still a free country to go where you want right?)
 
Police said they seized a semi-automatic pistol with a fully loaded magazine, a loaded round and a 4-foot-long samurai sword. Police also found a ‘Scream’ mask and gloves.
Click to expand...

Well...empty brass isn't all that useful, now is it?
 
As active gun owners we might not even think of it as a possibility, but if the gun was visible from the cops point of view he would have had to ask for an LTC, after informing the cop that he doesn't have a proper license for the gun, he would have had to seize the gun and search the vehicle.
 
midas said:
Oh well, need to spend more time reading RMV related laws now.
Click to expand...

Really? You need to read MV laws to know now that putting an expired registration sticker from one state onto the plates from a different state is not a good idea?
 
brenton.bourne said:
As active gun owners we might not even think of it as a possibility, but if the gun was visible from the cops point of view he would have had to ask for an LTC, after informing the cop that he doesn't have a proper license for the gun, he would have had to seize the gun and search the vehicle.
Click to expand...

didn't realize a gun being visible was grounds to ask about a carry permit is that a MA only requirement?
 
Jose said:
Really? You need to read MV laws to know now that putting an expired registration sticker from one state onto the plates from a different state is not a good idea?
Click to expand...

Yep. I'm not an American and have only lived in MA. I had no reason to read up on these laws until now. There's no applicable laws in my home country pertaining to this kind of stuff so i just assumed people are free to move around as long as they have some sort of a registration. Guess not.
 
"Several weapons"? Seriously? When I'm in my car I have my EDC gun and pocket knife on me, another knife in my lock box, a K-Bar stuck between the seat and center console, and an old AK bayo in the trunk in a box of stuff (cables, work gloves, hand held spotlight, etc). Those are the more obvious "weapons". There's also a 3D Maglite in the door pocket, and a pair of lineman dikes in the trunk. Sometimes there are other tools in the car like hammers, screw drivers, etc...

Good stop on the sticker/license plate by the PD, typical over-reaction from the media...
 
I think he was on his way to his weekly Ninja Training course. His only mistake was letting the police see him , if he was further along in the ninja training course he would have never been seen at all.
 
NetDoc said:
Hear this on the news yesterday along with this (from another article on the web): Officers were on alert for the minivan after a nationwide bulletin went out from Colorado police.
They were looking for his car because they believe he had been involved in a series of robberies.
Click to expand...

Then safety search of car was warranted. "A protective sweep of an automobile for weapons must be based on reasonable
fears for the safety of officers or others" Mass v. Johnson, Ct. App. No. 11-P-1324

Bit of a stretch to claim they felt fear because someone was driving around with a bogus reg. sticker, but if Colorado bulletin was in fact read by cops, then motion to suppress evidence would fail and this guy will be a resident of walpole for the next year or two before being extradited to Co. What was he thinking? Driving aound with loaded rounds? Highways aren't safe anymore.
 
midas said:
And probable cause for a search?
Click to expand...
This stop was brought up at NESR: motorcyclists are concerned about under what circumstances helmet cams can be siezed as evidence.

drop said:
scenario that happened:
- operator is stopped for bad tags
- operator appears nervous
- police order operator out of vehicle
- police see weapon [machete within reach slung on seat] in plain view
- police search car and discover more weapons

the two parts in bold are the key, and they make all the difference when describing the steps leading to a legitimate search.
Click to expand...
In addition to the weapons they found a "scream" mask and gloves.

and

eboos said:
The issues at hand would be:

First there would need to be a reason for a lawful stop. An observed traffic violation, or the suspecion that a crime has been or is currently being committed.

Second, the intrusion on the suspect's rights would have to be proportional to the offense they are suspected of.

Third, an officer may order a person out of (or off) their vehicle in order to perform a protective frisk which would be limited to ensuring the officer's safety.

Upon the presence of weapons or contraband or if they were observed in plain sight (wherever the officer had a lawful place to be at the time) they may then search the surrounding 'reach, lunge or grab' area without a warrant.

Warrantless searches beyond this scope may be performed based on probable cause in the presence of exirgent circumstances only, such as the prevention of the destruction of evidence./
Click to expand...
 
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midas said:
Yep. I'm not an American and have only lived in MA. I had no reason to read up on these laws until now. There's no applicable laws in my home country pertaining to this kind of stuff so i just assumed people are free to move around as long as they have some sort of a registration. Guess not.
Click to expand...
Do they have cars there?
 
TayNinh_66 said:
Bit of a stretch to claim they felt fear because someone was driving around with a bogus reg. sticker, but if Colorado bulletin was in fact read by cops, then motion to suppress evidence would fail and this guy will be a resident of walpole for the next year or two before being extradited to Co. What was he thinking? Driving aound with loaded rounds? Highways aren't safe anymore.
Click to expand...

A safety search was probably not the reason for the search. As LenS (I think) said, if the car was towed, an inventory search would be required. Anything found during an inventory search is admissible as evidence. That's from a SJC decision maybe 15 years or so ago.
 

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