Consent to search of vehicle does not extend to engine compartment.
A recent Supreme Judicial Court decision has limited the scope of what constitutes a permissable search of a vehicle when consented to by the Operator of that vehicle. In a 4-3 decision in the Hampden County case Commonwealth v. Anthony C. Ortiz, Chief Justice Ralph Gants wrote: “In this case we must decide whether a driver’s consent to allow the police to search for narcotics or firearms ‘in the vehicle’ authorizes a police officer to