Com. v. Coleman, B.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 31, 2024
Docket590 EDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Coleman, B. (Com. v. Coleman, B.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Com. v. Coleman, B., (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-A01008-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : BRANDON COLEMAN : : Appellant : No. 590 EDA 2023

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered February 17, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0001323-2022

BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., PANELLA, P.J.E., and COLINS, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, P.J.: FILED MAY 31, 2024

Brandon Coleman appeals from the judgment of sentence, entered in

the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, after he was found guilty,

following a stipulated waiver trial, of one count each of persons not to possess

a firearm1 and firearms not to be carried without a license.2 After careful

review, we affirm.

On February 5, 2022, Philadelphia Police Officer Kevin Tilghman and his

partner were on patrol in the area of Osage Avenue and 55 th Street. At

approximately 7:45 p.m., Officer Tilghman encountered Coleman’s vehicle

double-parked on the 5500 block of Osage Avenue. See N.T. Suppression

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6105(a)(1).

2 Id. at § 6106(a)(1). J-A01008-24

Hearing, 10/19/22, at 6-7. After Officer Tilghman pulled his patrol car behind

Coleman’s vehicle, Coleman began driving away. As Coleman drove away,

Officer Tilghman looked up Coleman’s vehicle tag information in the

NCIC/PCIC database, which revealed that the vehicle had been unregistered

for approximately eight months, since June 2021. Id. at 7. Coleman drove

around the block and again double-parked on the street. Id. Upon seeing

the car return, Officer Tilghman activated his lights and initiated a vehicle

investigation. Id. at 7 & 24. Officer Tilghman approached the driver’s side of

Coleman’s vehicle to inform him that the car was unregistered and, while

relaying this information, Officer Tilghman heard a loud “thump.” Id. at 7;

id. at 13 (Officer Tilghman testifying “thump” sounded like “a metal object . .

. . hitting the floorboard of the car”); id. at 17 (Officer Tilghman testifying, on

cross-examination, he heard what sounded like “something hard hitting the

floor”). The sound “startled” Officer Tilghman, who then activated his body

camera.3 Id. at 7.

Officer Tilghman motioned to his partner to get out of the patrol vehicle

and, while waiting for Officer Tilghman’s partner, Coleman gave Officer

Tilghman his driver’s license and asked to call his boss. Id. at 13, 18. Officer

Tilghman allowed Coleman to call his boss and also asked him to turn off the

3 Officer Tilghman acknowledged that Philadelphia Police Department policy dictates that officers should turn on their body-worn cameras at the time they exit their vehicles. However, he also stated that he did activate his body camera about 20 seconds into the stop. Id. at 15.

-2- J-A01008-24

car. Id. at 18-19. After Coleman turned off the car, Officer Tilghman asked

if there was a firearm in the vehicle. Id. at 7.

Officer Tilghman asked Coleman to step out of the vehicle, at which time

Coleman also gave permission for the officers to search his car. As soon as

Coleman stepped out of the vehicle, Officer Tilghman and his partner

conducted a pat-down frisk of his person. Id. at 8. The officers immediately

felt an object that appeared to have the shape of a firearm and, because it

was within reach, Officer Tilghman reached into Coleman’s sweatshirt pocket

and retrieved a “.38 Special” revolver. Id. at 8, 13. The officers did not locate

anything during the search of the vehicle that explained the thump heard by

Officer Tilghman. Id. at 27. Coleman was immediately placed under arrest

and subsequently charged with the above offenses, as well as carrying a

firearm on public streets or public property in Philadelphia.4

Coleman filed a pre-trial motion to suppress, and, on October 19, 2022,

the trial court held a hearing, wherein Coleman argued that Officer Tilghman

did not possess the requisite reasonable suspicion or probable cause to frisk

him at the time of the stop, in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth

amendments of the United States Constitution, as well as additional

protections provided by the Pennsylvania Constitution. See N.T. Suppression

Hearing, 10/19/22, at 4. At the hearing, the court heard testimony from

Officer Tilghman, as well as argument from both Coleman and the

4 See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6108.

-3- J-A01008-24

Commonwealth. The court took the matter under advisement and, on

December 1, 2022, denied Coleman’s motion to suppress.

On December 16, 2022, the trial court held a stipulated waiver trial.

The evidence submitted to the court was Officer Tilghman’s body camera, a

property receipt, photographs of the recovered firearm, the criminal

information, a certification regarding a license to carry firearms, and a

firearms identification unit laboratory report. See N.T. Waiver Trial,

12/16/22, at 7-8; see also Exhibits C-1, C-2, C-8, C-9, C-12, C-13. In

addition, the parties stipulated that Coleman had a prior record that prohibited

him from possessing a firearm. See N.T. Waiver Trial, 12/16/22, at 8. At the

conclusion of the trial, the court found Coleman guilty of persons not to

possess a firearm and firearms not to be carried without a license. Id. at 9.

The trial court deferred sentencing and ordered a presentence investigation

report, as well as a mental health evaluation. Id. On February 17, 2023, the

court sentenced Coleman to 3½ to 8 years’ incarceration followed by 2 years’

probation for persons not to possess a firearm, and 5 years’ probation for

firearms not to be carried without a license, to be served concurrently. See

N.T. Sentencing Hearing, 2/17/23, at 20; see also Order of Sentence,

2/17/23.

On March 7, 2023, Coleman filed a timely notice of appeal. Both

Coleman and the trial court have complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925. Coleman

raises the following issue for our review on appeal: “Did the [trial] court err

in denying [] Coleman’s motion to suppress where he was frisked by police

-4- J-A01008-24

without reasonable suspicion that he was armed and dangerous?” Appellant’s

Brief, at 3.

Coleman argues that although Officer Tilghman had reasonable

suspicion to stop his car,5 he lacked reasonable suspicion to frisk Coleman’s

person. See Appellant’s Brief, at 12. Specifically, Coleman argues that his

“nervousness and pre-frisk movements inside the car do not establish

reasonable suspicion to frisk [his person] even though the frisk occurred in an

area known for narcotics sales.” Id. The “thump” sound heard by Officer

Tilghman “gave him at most reasonable suspicion to [search the] car, but

[not] reasonable suspicion to frisk his person.” Id. Because Officer Tilghman

lacked the requisite reasonable suspicion to search his person, Coleman

argues that the recovered firearm should have been suppressed and the

suppression court erred by denying his motion. Id. at 12-13. We disagree.

5 Coleman acknowledges that the car’s registration was expired and in violation of the Motor Vehicle Code. See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1301(a).

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