Mass. Supreme Court Clarifies Role of Police

     The appellate courts in Mass. from time to time issue opinions that change or clarify the law. This is certainly true for operating under the influence cases. Simply stated, the law punishes people whose ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is impaired by alcohol they consumed. In Commonwealth v. Canty, a case decided by the Supreme Judicial Court in November 2013 the Court dealt with the issue of how far a police officer’s testimony can go at trial in describing the defendant’s condition. In the Canty case the police officer testified that the defendant “in my opinion was probably impaired.” The Court confirmed that a police officer may testify as to his opinion of a person’s sobriety, but may not testify as to his opinion whether the defendant’s ability to operate a motor vehicle was impaired. The bottom line is that it is up to the jury to decide whether a person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle was impaired.