Commonwealth v. Ford

175 A.3d 985
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 14, 2017
Docket196 EDA 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 175 A.3d 985 (Commonwealth v. Ford) 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
Commonwealth v. Ford, 175 A.3d 985 (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION BY

FITZGERALD, J.:

Appellant, Anthony Ford, appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. Appellant claims the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the firearm seized from his home. He also argues that the trial court erred in finding the evidence sufficient to sustain his conviction for possession of a firearm with an altered manufacturer’s number, because the manufacturer’s number was merely obscured by corrosion, not by human hands. 1 We affirm the trial court’s order denying suppression, but we reverse Appellant’s conviction for possession of a firearm with an altered manufacturer’s number.

The trial court summarized the factual and procedural history as follows:

On October 20, 2015, [ ] Appellant, [ ] through counsel!,] argued a motion to suppress, which was denied. On that same date, he was found guilty following a [non-jury] trial of [possession of [f]ire-arm [prohibited[ 2 ] and [possession of firearm with altered manufacturer’s number.] Sentencing was deferred until December 16, 2015 for the preparation of a presentence investigation and mental health report. On that date[, Appellant] was sentenced to [concurrent terms] of ... two and one-half [ ] to five [] yearsf imprisonment] followed by three [ ] years of probation.
On January 6,2016[,] Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. Trial counsel filed a motion to withdraw!,] which was granted. New counsel was appointed. On February 18, 2016, [the trial court] entered an [o]rder pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). On March 8, 2016[,] Appellant filed a timely response to [the trial court’s] order.
On August 28, 2014[,] at around 10 pm, Philadelphia [p]olice [officers Patrick Biles along with his partner, Officer St. Onge, were in uniform riding in a marked police car. They received several radio calls directing them to 2010 Wil-mot [Street] for reports of a person bleeding in the backyard and a person with a gun.[ 3 ] The officers went to the backyard of 2010 Wilmot [Street 4 ] but did not find anyone. They then went through an alleyway to Dit[ ]man [Street]. There[,] several neighbors were directing them to 4663 Ditman [Street]. While standing on the porch of [4663 Ditman Street,] Officer Biles testified that he heard multiple voices screaming. Based on the information received, and the numerous gun arrests that Officer Biles conducted in that area, which he classified as a high crime area, he knocked on the door. When no one answered, Officer Biles opened the unlocked door and went inside. The home appeared to be under construction^] but there were several lights on. Once inside, Officer Biles observed three individuals standing in what would be the living room of the home. Specifically, he observed [ ] Appellant make a swinging motion with his arm and place an objéct on the kitchen chair next to him. Officer Biles made this observation frdm approximately thirty 'feet away. He ordered [] Appellant to show his hands and placed him in handcuffs. Officer Biles recovered a .38 caliber silver handgun with the serial number obscured on the chair where he observed [ ] Appellant make the swinging arm motion.

Trial Ct. Op., 9/13/16, at 1-2 (citations and footnote omitted). During trial, the parties stipulated that the serial number on the handgun was “obscured by corrosion [and] recovered by polishing.” N.T., 10/20/15, at 88.

Appellant raises the following issues for our review:

A. Was it error for the [trial] court to deny Appellant’s motion to suppress evidence of a gun found in Appellant’s home, where the gun was the product of a warrantless search of said home by police, without probable cause and exigent circumstances?
B. Was it error for the trial court to find that Appellant was guilty of possession of a firearin which has had the manufacturer’s number integral to the frame or receiver altered, changed, removed, or obliterated, where the number was merely obscured by corrosion, and was recovered by polishing?

Appellant’s Brief at 2 (capitalization omitted).

Appellant first cohtends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, because the gun found in his home was “the product of an unreasonable search and seizure.” Id. at 5. He asserts the police officers lacked probable cause and exigent circumstances to justify a war-rantless entry and séarch of his home. We disagree.

We review the denial of a motion to suppress as follows:

An appellate court’s standard of review in addressing a challenge to the denial of a suppression motion is limited to determining whether the suppression court’s factual findings are supported by the record and whether the legal conclusions drawn from those facts are correct. Because the Commonwealth prevailed before the suppression court, we may consider only the evidence of the Commonwealth and so much of the evidence for the defense as remains uncon-tradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole. Where the suppression court’s factual findings are supported by the record, the appellate court is bound by those findings and may reverse only if the court’s legal conclusions are erroneous. Where the appeal of the determination of the suppression court turns on allegations of legal error, the suppression court’s legal conclusions are not binding on an appellate court, whose duty it is to determine if the suppression court properly applied the law to the facts. Thus,’ the conclusions of law of the courts below are subject to plenary review.

Commonwealth v. Jones, 121 A.3d 524, 526-27 (Pa. Super. 2015) (citation, alterations, and ellipsis omitted).

In a private home, searches and seizures without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable. Absent probable cause and exigent circumstances, the entry of a home without a warrant is prohibited under the Fourth Amendment. In determining whether ‘exigent circumstances exist, a number of factors are to be considered. ...
Among the factors to be considered are: (1) the gravity of the offense, (2) whether the suspect is reasonably believed to be armed, (3) whether there is above and beyond a clear showing of probable cause, (4) whether there is strong reason to believe that the suspect is within the premises being entered, (5) whether there is a likelihood that the suspect will escape if not swiftly apprehended, (6) whether the entry was peaceable, and (7) the time of the entry, i.e,, whether it was made at night. These factors are to be balanced against one another in 'determining whether the warrantless 'intrusion was justified.-

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Com. v. Kashner, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2026
Com. v. Reed, L.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Hell, T.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Kearney, J.
2025 Pa. Super. 145 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025)
Com. v. Brahm, L.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Eackles, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Varner, E.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Wiley, S.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. Rorie, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. Anderson, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. Carney, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. Salley, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. DelaRosa, W.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. Holbrook, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. Alexander, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Com. v. Felder, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Mendez, E.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Brown, T.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Hero, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. King, M.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
175 A.3d 985, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-ford-pasuperct-2017.