Commonwealth v. Bryant

22 Pa. D. & C.5th 43
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Monroe County
DecidedJanuary 28, 2011
Docketno. 972 CR 2010
StatusPublished

This text of 22 Pa. D. & C.5th 43 (Commonwealth v. Bryant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Monroe County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Bryant, 22 Pa. D. & C.5th 43 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011).

Opinion

SIBUM, J.,

Defendant Eddie Lee Bryant has been charged with criminal conspiracy to commit possession with intent to deliver (18 Pa.C.S.A. §903(a)(l)), possession with intent to deliver heroin (35 P.S. §780-113(a)(30)), possession of marijuana (35 P.S. §780-113(a)(3 l)(i)), possession of drug paraphernalia (35 P.S. §780-113(a)(32)), and intent to possess a controlled substance by person not registered (35 P.S. §780-113(a) (16)), in connection with events that allegedly occurred on May 13, 2010. A preliminary hearing was held on June 11, 2010 and the charges were bound over for court. Defendant appeared for formal arraignment on July 19, 2010 and entered a plea of not guilty. A criminal information was filed that same day charging defendant with the above named crimes. Defendant filed a petition for habeas corpus, omnibus pretrial motion, and motion for bail modification on October 27, 2010. A hearing was held on December 16, 2010 at which time counsel for both the commonwealth and defendant agreed to submit testimony on the preliminary hearing transcripts.

The relevant facts as presented through the preliminary hearing transcripts are as follows. On May 13, 2010 at approximately 4:05 a.m., Corporal Thomas Hothouse (“Corporal”) and Trooper Eric Randazzo (“Trooper”) of the Pennsylvania State Police were traveling north on Interstate 380 in apatrol car [N/T, 6/11/10, p. 7.]1. Corporal and Trooper passed a van bearing New York State plates with an inoperable passenger’s side parking lamp. Id. at 6, 49. Corporal pulled over the patrol car in to the center median of the interstate and waited for the vehicle to pass. [46]*46Id. at 7. Corporal and Trooper then conducted a traffic stop of the offending vehicle. Id.

Upon approaching the vehicle, Corporal and Trooper observed four total occupants in the van. Id. Corporal approached the driver side and made contact with the driver of the vehicle who appeared extremely nervous. Id. at 7, 48. Corporal obtained the driver’s license and registration and returned to the patrol car to run the information. Id. at 7. Meanwhile, Trooper approached the passenger side of the vehicle and made contact with a black male reclining in the front passenger seat which was fully extended (“defendant”). Id. Trooper asked defendant to roll down the window so that he could speak to him, in response to which defendant stated that the window did not work. Id. Trooper then asked defendant to step out of the vehicle, and defendant complied. Id. Once outside the vehicle, Trooper requested defendant walk to the rear of the van and asked for his information. Id. at 8. Trooper testified that he routinely requests identification from people that he pulls over to ascertain if the person is subject to a warrant. Id. at 14. In response to Trooper’s request for identification, defendant identified himself as Edwin Brown. Id. at 8, 19. Defendant then related that he may have his identification in a bag behind the rear seat in the van. Id. at 8. Trooper positioned himself right next to the defendant with his flashlight illuminated. Id. Defendant opened the rear hatch door and Trooper observed a clear plastic bag containing suspected marijuana on top of other items located behind the third row seat. Id. at 8, 30. Defendant then grabbed the bag of suspected marijuana and threw it over the third row seat. Id. at 8. Defendant was placed in handcuffs and advised [47]*47that he was under arrest for possession of marijuana. Id.

After Trooper placed defendant in their patrol car, Corporal and Trooper returned to the van to speak with the driver again and to address the two occupants in the back seat. Id. As Trooper approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, he witnessed furtive movement from the two back seat passengers. Id. at 8-9. The passengers were sitting in the third row seat; the second row seats were not present in the vehicle. Id. at 25. Trooper made contact with the driver and advised her to unlock the doors. Id. at 9. The driver complied but the driver’s side sliding door did not open. Id. Trooper then walked around the rear of the van to the passenger side sliding door and opened the sliding door. Id.

Once the door was opened, the driver side backseat passenger, later identified as John Portalatin, threw a large clear plastic bag containing suspected heroin underneath the third row seat. Id. at 10. The other passenger, later identified as . Jason Rosario, was positioned in the passenger side third row seat directly behind defendant’s passenger seat. Trooper then ordered the driver and both passengers to exit the vehicle and advised them that they were under arrest for possession of heroin. Id. A terry frisk of all three individuals was conducted but no contraband was found. Id. A total of $60 to $80 dollars was recovered from the four occupants. Id. at 39. Defendant and the other occupants of the van were transported to PSP Swift water barracks to be identified. Id. at 10. Once at the barracks, defendant was identified as Eddie Lee Bryant. Id. at 7.

Upon returning to the station, Corporal and Trooper broke down the plastic bundle of suspected narcotics [48]*48recovered from the van. Id. It contained 330 small, plastic, stamped baggies of suspected heroin. Id. at 10,45. Corporal testified that from his training and experience with highway interdiction cases, the heroin found in the vehicle was consistent with amounts used for distribution. Id. at 42-43.

Corporal and Trooper also recovered the clear plastic baggie of suspected marijuana that defendant threw over the third row seat. Id. at 11. Located within the plastic baggie of suspected marijuana was a small bag of cocaine. Id. The suspected narcotics were field tested at the barracks through a NIK test and were positive for heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Id. Laboratory tests later confirmed the presence of a total of 40.38 grams of heroin, 0.31 grams of cocaine and 1.2 grams of marijuana. [Omnibus hearing, 12/16/10, commonwealth’s Exhibit 2.]

After arresting the occupants of the van, the vehicle was towed and secured awaiting application of a search warrant. [Affidavit of probable cause, 5/13/10, p.2.] A search warrant was requested on May 13, 2010. Id. No additional contraband was discovered during the search of the van itself. [N/T, 6/11/10, p.29.] The vehicle was identified as belonging to Susan Smith from Binghamton, N. Y. Id. at 31. Trooper was advised that Susan Smith was defendant’s girlfriend, yet he was not aware of Smith’s relationship with the driver. Id. at 31-32.

DISCUSSION

1. Motion to Suppress

Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure provide that a defendant may move to suppress any evidence alleged [49]*49to have been obtained in violation of the defendant’s rights. Pa.R.Crim.P. §581(A). The commonwealth carries the burden of going forward with the evidence and establishing that the challenged evidence was not obtained illegally. Pa.R.Crim.P. §581 (H). The commonwealth must meet its burden by a preponderance of the evidence. Commonwealth v. Ruey, 586 Pa. 230, 239, 892 A.2d 802, 807 (Pa. 2006).

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Bluebook (online)
22 Pa. D. & C.5th 43, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-bryant-pactcomplmonroe-2011.