Com. v. Tirado, H.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided August 10, 2026·No. 2078 EDA 2025·Unpublished·Panella

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA :

v. :

: :

HECTOR JULIUS TIRADO :

:

Appellant : No. 2078 EDA 2025

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered November 25, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-15-CR-0000187-2023

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J.E., LANE, J., and BENDER, P.J.E.

MEMORANDUM BY PANELLA, P.J.E.: FILED AUGUST 10, 2026

Hector Julius Tirado appeals from the judgment of sentence entered by

the Chester County Court of Common Pleas on November 25, 2024, after a

jury convicted him of persons not to possess a firearm and carrying a firearm

without a license.1 On appeal, Tirado challenges the constitutionality of

Sections 6105 and 6106. After careful review, we affirm.

The trial court accurately summarized the factual history underlying

Tirado’s convictions, based on the evidence presented at trial, as follows:

On the evening of November 4, 2020, Detective Jonathan Shave of the Coatesville Police Department observed posts published on [Tirado]’s Snapchat account which depicted [Tirado] and another person holding firearms. Detective Shave used a separate cellphone to take a photo of the Snapchat posts and sent that photo to the two Coatesville City police officers working patrol that evening, Corporal (formerly Officer) Jared Davis and Officer

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6105(a)(1) and 6106(a)(1), respectively.

Michael Kinsman. Following the receipt of that photo, Corporal Davis responded to the area of a residence that he believed [Tirado] frequented. At that time, Corporal Davis observed a silver Lexus sedan that [Tirado] was known to operate or be involved with parked across the street from the residence. Corporal Davis took no further action at that time.

Around 12:30 am on November 5, 2020, Corporal Davis was still on patrol. While in his patrol vehicle on South 5th Avenue in Coatesville, Corporal Davis observed the silver Lexus parked on Olive Street. The scene struck Corporal Davis as out of the ordinary because the car engine was still running and was parked several feet from the curb with people standing outside of the vehicle. Corporal Davis also observed one of the car doors closing as if people were getting into the car. Corporal Davis was not able to identify the individuals he observed at that time.

Corporal Davis then pulled his patrol vehicle behind the Lexus. By that time, no one was outside of the vehicle anymore. Shortly after pulling his patrol vehicle behind the Lexus, the Lexus pulled out of the parked position and onto Olive Street. Corporal Davis decided to follow the Lexus and observed erratic driving at an accelerated speed before making a turn onto the very narrow and hilly Penrose Lane.

Corporal Davis, observing the vehicle continue to accelerate up Penrose Lane, activated his emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop. Due to the dark tinting on the windows of the Lexus, Corporal Davis could not see inside the vehicle as he approached. As such, he called for the occupants to lower the rear windows. When the windows were not lowered, Corporal Davis grew concerned for his safety and that of the occupants of the vehicle, and he backed away and returned to his patrol vehicle. Once inside the patrol vehicle, Corporal Davis used his PA system to command the occupants of the Lexus to lower the windows. The occupants eventually lowered the windows around the same time that Officer Michael Kinsman of Coatesville Police Department arrived. Officer Timothy Kemmerle of Coatesville Police Department and Officer Joe Juisti of East Pikeland Police Department also responded to the scene.

Once the windows were lowered, Corporal Davis approached the Lexus again and observed five people in the Lexus. [Tirado] was in the front passenger seat, [Tirado]’s girlfriend, Heashana

Williams. was in the driver’s seat, and three other passengers were in the back seat. The Lexus was illuminated by the lights of Corporal Davis’s patrol car, as well as his handheld flashlight. Corporal Davis noticed that the three passengers in the backseat of the Lexus appeared statuesque and did not acknowledge the presence of law enforcement. All of the passengers in the back seats appeared very nervous. In particular, the passenger in the middle rear seat caught his attention as his hands were covering his waistband and his knees were more together. [] Corporal Davis gathered identifying information from the Lexus occupants and returned to his patrol vehicle to run checks on the driver and passengers. Officer Kinsman stayed at the passenger side of the Lexus.

Corporal Davis asked Williams to exit the Lexus so he could speak with her and verify that she owned the Lexus. Corporal Davis made Williams aware that he had concerns based on his earlier observations of the Lexus at Olive Street. Williams’ responses caused Corporal Davis to believe that Williams was being deceitful as her reasons for why they were on Olive Street and where they were going changed a couple of times within the few minutes she was speaking to Corporal Davis. Williams did not provide a satisfactory explanation regarding Corporal Davis's observations at Olive Street.

Following this conversation with Williams, Corporal Davis asked the rear passengers to exit the Lexus one at a time. The passenger in the middle rear seat, identified as Vincent Nemaungwe, tried to keep his legs pinned together as he exited the vehicle and was trying to keep his shirt over his waistband. Nemaungwe agreed to a pat down, during which Corporal Davis heard a significant metal clang from Nemaungwe’s waistband making contact with the Lexus. At that point, a gun fell down Nemaungwe’s pant leg. Corporal Davis handcuffed Nemaungwe and retrieved a silver .9mm Taurus from his pant leg. Corporal Davis secured the gun in his patrol car.

Upon further search of the Lexus, Corporal Davis located at .32- caliber black Beretta under the driver’s seat as well as a loose .9mm round on the floor. Williams was detained and taken into custody as the Lexus was registered to her and she was the person driving. However, Corporal Davis suspected that, based on his observations at Olive Street, [Tirado] had been driving prior to the stop. To confirm his belief, Corporal Davis investigated street

camera footage from the area of 5th Avenue and Olive Street. Street camera footage showed [Tirado] driving the Lexus, and that just before Corporal Davis pulled in behind the Lexus on Olive Street, [Tirado] and Williams switched seats.

Further investigation revealed that [Tirado] did not have a valid license to carry a firearm under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6109, nor did he have a valid sportsman’s firearm [permit] under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6106(c). The decision to charge [Tirado] was made based on the totality of the evidence, including the Snapchat postings, statements and observations from the stop and prior to it and the finding of the gun.

At trial, the parties stipulated that there was no dispute that [Tirado] was previously convicted of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, an ungraded felony. This stipulation was read to the jury after the jury found [Tirado] guilty of violating 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6106 and before making a finding of guilt on the 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6105 charge.

Trial Court Opinion, 12/8/25, at 2-5 (footnotes omitted).

On September 13, 2024, following a trial, a jury found Tirado guilty of

persons not to possess a firearm and carrying a firearm without a license. On

November 25, 2024, the court sentenced Tirado to an aggregate term of five

and one-half to eleven years’ imprisonment.

After his post-sentence and appeal rights were reinstated nunc pro tunc,

Tirado filed a post-sentence motion on May 19, 2025, in which he requested

a new trial. A hearing on this motion was held on June 30, 2025, at which

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