Com. v. Fields, R.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 19, 2017
DocketCom. v. Fields, R. No. 214 WDA 2016
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Fields, R. (Com. v. Fields, R.) 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. Fields, R., (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

J-S08005-17

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

RICKY FIELDS

Appellant No. 214 WDA 2016

Appeal from the PCRA Order dated January 12, 2016 In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-02-CR-0006918-2012

BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E., and SOLANO, J.

MEMORANDUM BY SOLANO, J.: FILED MAY 19, 2017

Appellant, Ricky Fields, appeals from the order denying his petition

filed under the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546.

PCRA counsel also filed a petition to withdraw pursuant to Turner/Finley.1

We affirm and grant PCRA counsel’s petition to withdraw.

Appellant was found guilty of possession of a prohibited firearm,

carrying firearms without a license, and driving while operating privileges

are suspended or revoked.2 The facts of this case are related in an opinion

of the trial court following Appellant’s conviction:

____________________________________________ 1 Commonwealth v. Turner, 544 A.2d 927 (Pa. 1988); Commonwealth v. Finley, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa. Super. 1988) (en banc). 2 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 6105(a)(1), 6106(a)(1) and 75 Pa.C.S. § 1543(a), respectively. J-S08005-17

This matter arises out of the arrest on March 4, 2012 of [Appellant] following an encounter between [Appellant] and police officers responding to a call of shots fired in Homestead, Pennsylvania.

[Appellant joined co-defendant’s] Motion to Suppress all evidence obtained during the encounter and a hearing was held on December 20, 2012.

At the Suppression Hearing[,] the Commonwealth called Officer James Wintruba of the Homestead Police Department[,] who testified that on March 4, 2012 at approximately 1:00 a.m. he was dispatched to West 15th Avenue in Homestead for a report of numerous shots fired in the area. Officer Wintruba testified that this is a high crime and drug area with numerous reports of shots fired and attempted homicides, as well as a homicide having occurred within the last year.

Officer Wintruba proceeded to an alleyway along the rear of the 300 block of W[est] 15th St[reet]. As he was in the alleyway he observed a silver four door Cadillac parked at an angle on the left side of the street with the brake lights on. The rear of the car was one to two feet from the curb and the front wheels were touching the curb. Officer Wintruba testified that he was using his spotlight to scan the area and as he was passing the Cadillac he ran the spotlight through the windows and saw the occupants slouched down inside the vehicle so low that he could only see the tops of their heads. At that point Officer Wintruba backed his vehicle up and checked on the registration of the vehicle and was informed that the vehicle’s registration had been checked four times recently related to possible criminal activity.

Officer Wintruba then decided to watch the vehicle and call for backup. As he was watching the vehicle, all four doors opened simultaneously and four men got out of the vehicle. He noted that the driver was wearing a gray jacket and the passenger directly behind him was wearing a blue coat with a blue shirt and horizontal stripes. The other two passengers were both dressed similarly and were similarly built. Officer Wintruba identified [Appellant] as the driver of the vehicle and Michael Watts as the left

-2- J-S08005-17

rear passenger. Officer Wintruba testified that after [Appellant] exited the vehicle he then returned to the driver’s door and appeared to be locking the door before walking away again. Officer Wintruba testified that because the other two men who were in the vehicle, Duane Alston and Jeffdyn Rushton, were wearing similar clothes and were similarly built he could not tell who had been sitting in the right front seat and who had been in the right rear seat. Officer Wintruba watched the four men walk away and followed them in his vehicle until his partner arrived.

At that point, Officer Wintruba approached the men and asked to speak to them. He described them as cooperative and informed them that he was investigating a report of shots fired. He acknowledged that he was talking to them in part to stall for time to allow additional backup to arrive as only he and his partner were present. As he began speaking to them he could smell an overwhelming odor of green fresh marijuana. At that point he told them that he believed they had marijuana in their possession and he would have to check them. Officer Wintruba testified he informed them that they were being detained until he could determine where the marijuana was located and each agreed to be patted down.

Trial Ct. Op., 6/24/13, at 2-4 (footnote and citations to the record omitted;

paragraphing added).

Officer Wintruba further testified, as follows:

Q. You said they were detained at that point, by that you mean they were handcuffed?

A. They were handcuffed around then. . . . They weren’t handcuffed when I said I smelled marijuana. At that point I believe they were all handcuffed. Once again, there were four of them and two of us. It came across the radio that back-up wouldn’t be available for some time. ... They would have been against the wall, and they were very relaxed.

-3- J-S08005-17

Q. Did you tell them to go to the wall?

A. We were in that area, and I explained that since there were two of us that we were going to have to handcuff them.

N.T., 12/20/12, at 35-36. The trial court’s opinion continues:

[Officer Wintruba] also asked them for identification. [Appellant] produced a Pennsylvania identification card which, when checked, came back as showing [Appellant] having his driving license suspended. [Appellant] was asked if anyone else in the vehicle had a driver’s license and [Appellant] then became very nervous and said he would call his girlfriend to drive the car and then said he would drive the car himself.

When Michael Watts was asked for identification he could not produce any identification but instead identified himself as Michael Dickerson and gave a date of birth. When that information was checked and came back with no record, Mr. Watts then became argumentative as the officers tried to obtain more information regarding his identity. It was then determined that he was wearing an ankle bracelet with an electronic monitor on it at which point he was placed in the rear of one of the police vehicles. Alston produced identification and was released from the scene. Rushton was searched and found in possession of marijuana and was placed under arrest.

At that point Officer Wintruba told [Appellant] that his vehicle would have to be towed as no one could drive the vehicle and was asked if he would consent to it being searched. [Appellant] denied having the keys but when told that he was seen locking the driver’s door, [Appellant] then said that he lost the keys and he couldn’t find them.

Trial Ct. Op., 6/24/13, at 4-5 (citations to the record omitted). Appellant

“was placed in” the police vehicle. N.T., 12/20/12, at 18. Officer Wintruba

“transported [Appellant] and Rushton in [his] police car less than a block

back to where the car was parked.” Id. The opinion continues:

-4- J-S08005-17

Officer Wintruba then approached the vehicle and looked inside using the light from the nearby street light and saw a handgun sitting on the floor boards of the right rear seat.

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Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Fields, R., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-fields-r-pasuperct-2017.