Commonwealth v. Mistler

869 A.2d 497
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 27, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 869 A.2d 497 (Commonwealth v. Mistler) 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. Mistler, 869 A.2d 497 (Pa. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

[498]*498OPINION BY

TAMILIA, J.:

¶ 1 The Commonwealth appeals from the April 28, 2004 Order granting appellees’ motion to suppress all evidence obtained as a result of their detention by undercover Pennsylvania State Liquor Control Enforcement officers (hereinafter LCE), at a college fraternity house party. In the interest of judicial economy, the factual and procedural backgrounds of this case are set forth below, as provided by the suppression court in its Opinion.

On April 3, 2003, following an undercover operation, Pennsylvania State Liquor Control Enforcement officers (hereinafter “LCE”) and the West Chester Police (hereinafter “WCP”) issued under-age drinking citations to a group of students who were attending a party at Sigma Pi fraternity. On this night, Sigma Pi fraternity, located at 701 South Walnut Street in West Chester, opened their fraternity house to the public for a party by selling tickets for admission. When the undercover LCE officers entered the fraternity house, by presenting their tickets at the door, they immediately made their way to the basement. In the basement LCE officers observed a makeshift bar where people who appeared to be students were being served and were consuming alcoholic beverages. From their observations, the LCE officers generally gathered that many of the students, who seemed youthful in appearance, were under the age of 21.
As the crowd in the basement began to multiply, the LCE officers believed it was necessary, for safety purposes, to call in the detail of the WCP, who were uniformed police officers. When the WCP arrived, the LCE officers stopped the party and began to “card” each student by checking their drivers’ licenses for identification. Based on their ages, LCE officers divided the students into two groups: those that were over the age of 21, and those that were under the age of 21. Those who were over the age of 21 were told that they were free to leave, and the under 21s were further detained. Upon detention of the students under the age of 21, the WCP and the LCE officers administered PBTs, [preliminary breath tests] and began to question students concerning whether or not they had been drinking. Based on the PBT information, students’ admissions that they had been drinking, and LCE officers’ observations, LCE officers issued under-age drinking citations to fifty-six (56) students. Only eight (8) of the Defendants are party to this appeal.
A hearing was held July 11, 2003, before District Justice Mark A. Bruno, and all the above Defendants were found guilty of under-age drinking. Defendants then filed summary appeals to the Chester County Court of Common Pleas. On September 16, 2003, I granted the Commonwealth’s Motion to consolidate the cases for a suppression hearing. That hearing was held on October 22, 2003. As a result of the evidence produced at that hearing I was not satisfied that the Commonwealth had demonstrated the requisite “reasonable suspicion” as that term was used in Commonwealth v. Wood, 2003 Pa. Super. 338 [358], 833 A.2d 740 (2003) [ (en banc), affirmed, [— Pa. -, 862 A.2d 589,] 2004 Pa.LEXIS 3036 (Pa. Dec. 2, 2004)]. I wrote an Opinion ruling on those suppression issues which applied to the Defendants generally, and I reserved ruling on issues which applied solely to any particular Defendant. A second hearing was held on April 7, 2004 to allow the Commonwealth to demonstrate “reasonable suspicion as regards the particular individuals who were arrested.” On April 28, 2004, I issued an [499]*499Order granting Defendants’ Omnibus Pre-Trial Motion suppressing all evidence including laboratory results, field test results, and all other evidence obtained as a result of the investigative detention in question. On April 29, 2004, the Commonwealth filed a Notice of Appeal, and on May 10, 2004, the Commonwealth submitted their Concise Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal.

Trial Court Opinion, Wood, S.J., 5/28/04, 1-3.

¶ 2 The Commonwealth’s argument on appeal centers on Commonwealth v. Wood, 833 A.2d 740 (Pa.Super.2003) (en banc), affimed, — Pa. -, 862 A.2d 589 (2004). The Commonwealth argues the case is inapplicable to the facts before us or, in the alternative, it is distinguishable on these bases: (1) Wood “does not prohibit the type of investigation and issuance of citations that occurred here”; and (2) detention did not occur “as soon as backup officers entered the fraternity and asked those attendees who were of age to make themselves know[n] to officers.” Appellant’s brief at 6.

¶ 3 In Wood, LCEs were on assignment during a Mardi Gras celebration in the South Street area of Philadelphia, checking for underage drinkers. They entered a bar and began “carding” those individuals who appeared to be under the legal drinking age of 21. At the suppression hearing conducted in connection with Wood, an arresting officer explained their actions that evening, and this Court summarized that testimony.

[An LCE officer] testified that, from the officers’ “experience,” and based solely on whether a bar patron “looked to be under the age of 21,” the officers would ask the bar patron for identification, a process known as carding. When the officers have found “four, five, six” underage patrons, they separate all the patrons under 21 in a separate area of the bar. Any patron over the age of 21 is ordered to leave the bar. [Arresting officer] acknowledged that, on this occasion, patrons over 21 were “free to leave” the bar. The conclusion is inescapable that persons in the bar who were carded and could not prove they were over 21 were not “free to leave.” As to the sequence by which the officers proceeded with their investigation, [arresting officer] testified that first, the officers would determine age, and then, and only then, were the officers “going to determine whether or not they had been drinking alcohol.”
On cross-examination, [arresting officer] again confirmed that it was only after the “over 21’s” had been separated from the “under 21’s” that the officers proceeded to determine whether or not the “under 21’s” had been drinking. During the raid, either state or city police officers blocked the doorway and all exits until identification could be established. The identity of the officers blocking egress was clear to all in the bar. [Arresting officer] testified that any patron “youthful in appearance” would have been prevented from leaving, even if the patron expressed a desire to leave the bar.

Wood, supra, at 743-744 (citations omitted). Then 17-year-old appellant Wood was one of those individuals “youthful in appearance” who was observed sitting at the bar; she was segregated along with others who appeared to be under the age of 21. Wood was not seen consuming alcohol that evening. As she stood with others determined to be under age 21, however, an officer overheard her say that while she had not been drinking in that bar, she previously had a drink at another establishment. “It was based upon this declara[500]*500tion alone that Wood was cited for underage drinking.” Id. at 744. Wood was convicted, filed a summary appeal, and convicted once again.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Mistler
912 A.2d 1265 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
869 A.2d 497, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-mistler-pasuperct-2005.