Commonwealth v. Davis

30 Pa. D. & C.4th 417, 1996 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 328
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County
DecidedFebruary 28, 1996
Docketno. 95-0931
StatusPublished

This text of 30 Pa. D. & C.4th 417 (Commonwealth v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Davis, 30 Pa. D. & C.4th 417, 1996 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 328 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1996).

Opinion

HESS, J.,

— This matter is before the court on the defendant’s omnibus pretrial motion in the nature of one to suppress evidence. On May 20,1995, at approximately 7:35 p.m., a vehicle operated by defendant Alex Davis was stopped on the Pennsylvania Turnpike by State Trooper Oberrender for speeding. The defendant stated he had a Pennsylvania driver’s license, but did not have it with him. When a license check revealed no record of a license, the defendant stated he had a West Virginia driver’s license. A check revealed that defendant’s West Virginia license was under suspension. The defendant also lacked registration for the vehicle, explaining that he borrowed [419]*419the vehicle from a friend in West Virginia to visit his child in Philadelphia.

At some point during the traffic stop, Trooper Todd Rudy arrived on the scene. Upon inquiry, the troopers learned that neither passenger had a driver’s license. The passengers stated they were traveling from Philadelphia to West Virginia to visit a grandmother. Citations were then issued to Mr. Davis for speeding and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license.

At approximately 8:15 p.m., the defendant and his two passengers were told they were free to leave, but that they could not leave in the vehicle since none of them could produce a valid driver’s license. After the individuals were informed they were free to leave, they were questioned about whether the vehicle contained contraband. The defendant was then requested to allow a search of his vehicle. At 8:28 p.m., the defendant signed a consent form allowing a search of all vehicle compartments for any contraband.

The troopers searched the trunk and found a duffel bag. Without further consent, the troopers opened the duffel bag and searched through its contents. The troopers found a pair of sneakers in the duffel bag and searched them. Inside the sneakers were bags that were also searched. The bags contained balls of duct tape that were searched. The balls of tape were cut open to reveal clear bags of cocaine. The defendant was then arrested for unlawful possession and intent to deliver cocaine. The defendant filed this omnibus pretrial motion to suppress all evidence obtained as a result of an alleged unreasonable search and seizure.

The defendant argues he was unlawfully detained after being issued the traffic citations and being told he was free to leave. The Commonwealth contends that the traffic stop had been concluded when the de[420]*420fendant was told he was free to leave, and the subsequent inquiry leading to the consent to search was a “mere encounter” because the defendant was, indeed, free to leave. A “mere encounter” or request for information requires no level of suspicion on behalf of the officer and does not require an individual to stop or respond to the request. An encounter is a seizure under the Fourth Amendment, however, if “in view of all the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed he was not free to leave.” Commonwealth v. Ellis, 379 Pa. Super. 337, 354, 549 A.2d 1323, 1331 (1988) (quoting Michigan v. Chesternut, 486 U.S. 567, 573, 100 L.Ed.2d 565, 572 (1988)). If a reasonable person would not feel free to leave, the police must cite reasonable and articulable grounds for conducting an investigative detention of the individual. See Commonwealth v. Lopez, 415 Pa. Super. 252, 258-59, 609 A.2d 177, 180 (1992).

The validity of the initial stop of the vehicle driven by defendant Davis for a vehicle code violation is undisputed. It is also undisputed that the defendant was told he was free to leave after being issued his traffic citations. The primary issue is whether this encounter was a seizure implicating the Fourth Amendment.

The case of Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 115 L.Ed.2d 389 (1991), is particularly instructive. In Bostick, the defendant argued he was not free to leave a police encounter partially because he was physically confined as a passenger on a bus. Id. at 431-33, 115 L.Ed.2d at 396-97. The circumstances of that case involved a county sheriff’s drug task force program where officers at a bus station would routinely board buses and randomly question passengers and sometimes seek consent to search luggage. Id. The police asked Mr. Bostick for such consent and informed him that he [421]*421had the right to refuse consent. Id. The defendant consented, and the subsequent search of his suitcase revealed cocaine. Id.

In addressing the defendant’s suppression motion in Bostick, the United States Supreme Court first observed that “if this same encounter had taken place before Bostick boarded the bus or in the lobby of the terminal, it would not rise to the level of a seizure.” Id. at 434, 115 L.Ed.2d at 398. There would be no seizure under those circumstances because Mr. Bostick would have been free to terminate the encounter because he could have simply walked away. Id. at 435, 115 L.Ed.2d at 398-99. Bostick distinguished his set of facts by arguing that any police encounter is more intimidating when the individual is literally not able to leave in order to terminate the police encounter. Id. Bostick argued that this physical confinement, along with the fear of missing the bus if he had departed at that time, would lead a reasonable person to believe that he or she was not free to leave. Id.

The Supreme Court considered the underlying intent of the “free to leave” protection under the Fourth Amendment and concluded that the test is whether an individual would not feel free to leave as a result of police activity, not simply whether the individual would feel free to leave for any other reason. Id. at 436, 115 L.Ed.2d at 400. The court opined that Bostick would not have felt free to leave the bus even if the police had not been present, and that “Bostick’s movements were ‘confined’ in a sense, but this was the natural result of his decision to take the bus; it says nothing about whether or not the police conduct at issue was coercive.” Id. at 436, 115 L.Ed.2d at 399. The U.S. Supreme Court remanded the case for findings of fact.

[422]*422Prior to Bostick, the Pennsylvania courts dealt with the matter of the differences between a “seizure” of the person and a “mere encounter.” In In the Interest of Kathleen Jermaine, 399 Pa. Super. 503, 582 A.2d 1058 (1990), the police had trailed the defendant from a train station in New York City to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. They noticed that she had purchased a one-way ticket with cash and appeared to be very nervous when in the presence of police officers. She was confronted by a plainclothes policeman in Philadelphia who asked whether he could speak with her. The following then transpired:

“She said, ‘Yeah.’ I then asked her, ‘Did you just come in on a train,’ and she said, ‘Yeah.’

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Related

United States v. Mendenhall
446 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 1980)
Michigan v. Chesternut
486 U.S. 567 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Florida v. Bostick
501 U.S. 429 (Supreme Court, 1991)
United States v. Kelly L. Cordell
723 F.2d 1283 (Seventh Circuit, 1983)
United States v. Marc Notorianni
729 F.2d 520 (Seventh Circuit, 1984)
United States v. Albert John Thame, Jr.
846 F.2d 200 (Third Circuit, 1988)
Commonwealth v. Jackson
630 A.2d 1231 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)
In the Interest of Jermaine
582 A.2d 1058 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Commonwealth v. Ellis
549 A.2d 1323 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Commonwealth v. Lopez
609 A.2d 177 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Tindell
629 A.2d 161 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
30 Pa. D. & C.4th 417, 1996 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 328, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-davis-pactcomplcumber-1996.