COMMONWEALTH vs. MARK ADAMS
COMMONWEALTH vs. MARK ADAMS
COMMONWEALTH vs. MARK ADAMS
SJC-12620
provides that the common law that existed before the 1780
activities.
officer.1
Bolling, 462 Mass. 440, 442 (2012). On December 28, 2016, the
The defendant, who was at home with his wife and teenaged
son, answered the knock and stepped outside to speak with the
attorney. He told his wife, who had come to the door, not to
his hand on the front door and held it shut. Again, the
with his attorney. While this was going on, Sergeant Mark
4
Borque went up the front stairs and walked into the house to
speak with the defendant's wife. The defendant told his wife
guns, and would not provide the police with the combination to
his gun safe. The defendant then again attempted to enter his
home. The officers told him to stop, but he quickened his pace
arrest.
had any legal recourse. The defendant was concerned that the
from his home on the ground that police unlawfully had entered
enter the defendant's home, forcibly open his gun safe, and
481 Mass. 352, 364 (2019); Commonwealth v. Brown, 477 Mass. 805,
have rejected the narrow view that the common law could be
The common law may be found in "usage and tradition, and the
doubt that these were the "great sources" of common law adopted
at 70.
who was a stranger, about which way he had come into town. The
travel without one. The judge decided that there was "good
duty."
Learned followed him inside and "retook" the defendant for the
described as, "with force and arms, in and upon one Grant
14
Learned an assault did make, said Learned then and there being a
police officer of the city of Boston, and then and there being
did beat, bruise, wound and evil treat, and did then and there
his duty as such police officer, and which he, said Learned, was
Id. at 260.
his office, and with the design of hindering and opposing him in
duties).
Id. at 114.
upon without much care to avoid errors and omissions," and that
"no degree of care [had] been wanting, nor any labor spared."
Report).
2011, the annual median of charges was 242, but overall the
misdemeanor).
5 Conn. Cir. Ct. 587, 589 (1969); Roddy v. Finnegan, 43 Md. 490,
505 (1876); People v. Krum, 374 Mich. 356, 361, cert. denied,
381 U.S. 935 (1965); State v. Kirven, 279 S.C. 541, 543 (1983);
Pope v. State, 528 S.W.2d 54, 56 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1975). See
common law . . ."); R.M. Perkins, Criminal Law 495-497 (2d ed.
criminal intent").
463.
court distinguished Hill, 482 U.S. 451, and thus was able to
Report, can be distilled to the premise that "a person does not
10See, e.g., Gay v. State, 179 Ga. App. 430, 431-432 (1986)
(evidence of obstruction sufficient where defendant threatened
to get his shotgun and "blow holes in the patrol car" of officer
who had called for truck to tow defendant's vehicle); State v.
Mattila, 77 Or. App. 219, 221, 223 (1986) (obstructing
governmental function established by evidence that defendant
asked his mother, in loud voice, whether he could shoot deputies
who had approached house to serve eviction papers).
28
When he saw the work crew, the plaintiff went into "a high state
tape and plastic rope across the easement. Id. at 18. The
police officers and utility workers removed some of the tape and
plaintiff that the work would not stop absent a court order, and
the warning, the plaintiff sat down on a tree stump and refused
conduct. Id.
concluded that the officers had had probable cause to arrest the
demonstrate that the defendant was aware that the police officer
who had come to his house to collect them. First, the defendant
30
that "the officers' duty encompassed not only the serving of the
that duty."
or suspension is pending."
(2005), quoting LaBranche v. A.J. Lane & Co., 404 Mass. 725, 728
cannot stand'"). See also Ciani v. MacGrath, 481 Mass. 174, 179
and 131 (f), and give effect to each word, we conclude that the
34
§ 131 (d).
(1st Cir. 2011), cert. denied, 565 U.S. 1204 (2012), quoting
Holden, 470 Mass. 845, 864 (2015). See also United States v.
Reese, 627 F.3d 792, 800-805 (10th Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 563
641-645 (7th Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 562 U.S. 1303 (2011)
alleging that the defendant had injured his wife and that their
son was at home at the time of the alleged incident. Where the
jury were entitled to find that the police were acting in the
possess.
contact his lawyer, and told his wife not to allow the police to
of a lawful duty.
guilty.
So ordered.
Appendix A.