The state Superior Court has ruled that, during a routine traffic stop, a police officer was able to ask a man whether he had a gun in the car after determining that the driver's permit to carry a weapon had been revoked.

A divided three-judge panel of the court ruled Monday that the question regarding whether the driver had a weapon did not change the interaction from an investigative detention to a custodial interrogation, which would have required the administration of Miranda warnings. The decision in Commonwealth v. Alston reversed the trial court's decision to suppress evidence of a gun that was recovered from the vehicle.

Senior Judge William H. Platt wrote the memorandum opinion, with Judge Judith Ference Olson concurring, and Judge Anne E. Lazarus writing a dissenting decision.