Commonwealth v. Patterson, 79 Mass. App. Ct. 316

Responding to an abandoned 911 call, police went to 48 Forest Street, Franklin.
They found a scared five-year-old girl and a shaken mother; a gun holster was on the kitchen floor.
The defendant entered the kitchen, claimed he was unarmed, and identified himself as a police officer.
Upstairs, officers saw a jacket pocket containing a loaded Smith & Wesson .38; the gun was not in a holster or secured in a locked container.
The gun was in a jacket pocket in an upstairs closet while the defendant was downstairs; children were present nearby.
Defendant was convicted of improper storage of a firearm under G. L. c. 140, § 131L; on appeal, issues included constitutionality, proof of “control,” and admission of the child’s statements under the Sixth Amendment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Constitutionality of the storage statute as applied	Runyan supports broad constitutional concerns	Statute does not infringe the Second Amendment given context	No constitutional issue; statute valid as applied
Sufficiency of evidence that gun was not under defendant’s control	Gun was not within defendant’s control	Possession or control not proven	Evidence showed gun not under defendant’s control beyond a reasonable doubt
Admission of child’s statement and confrontation clause	Statement relevant to charges	Statement violated Crawford; testimonial	Statement non-testimonial; even if testimonial, harmless error beyond reasonable doubt

District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (U.S. 2008) (guides to Second Amendment scope and self-defense)
Commonwealth v. Runyan, 456 Mass. 230 (Mass. 2010) (statute differs from Heller; constitutionality upheld on its face)
Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (U.S. 2004) (confrontation clause applies to witnesses bearing testimony)
Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813 (U.S. 2006) (non-testimonial statements in ongoing emergencies)
Michigan v. Bryant, 131 S. Ct. 1143 (S. Ct. 2011) (testimonial status evaluated by ongoing emergency context)
Commonwealth v. Gonsalves, 445 Mass. 1 (Mass. 2005) (non-testimonial statements in emergency context)
Commonwealth v. Lee, 10 Mass. App. Ct. 518 (Mass. App. Ct. 1980) (policy rationales supporting gun-control measures)
Jupin v. Kask, 447 Mass. 141 (Mass. 2006) (legislative aims to prevent unauthorized firearm access)
Kobrin v. Gastfreund, 443 Mass. 327 (Mass. 2005) (statutory interpretation of control vs. possession)
Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket S.S. Authy., 352 Mass. 617 (Mass. 1967) (principles of statutory interpretation and purpose)
Commonwealth v. Osborne, 5 Mass. App. Ct. 657 (Mass. App. Ct. 1977) (carrying involves nontemporary possession and movement)