Commonwealth v. Romanski

46 Pa. D. & C.5th 69
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County
DecidedFebruary 25, 2015
DocketNo. CP-06-CR-0005156-2014
StatusPublished

This text of 46 Pa. D. & C.5th 69 (Commonwealth v. Romanski) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Romanski, 46 Pa. D. & C.5th 69 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

Opinion

YATRON, P.J.,

Janet Lynn Romanski (“defendant”) stands before the court subject to a four count information charging two counts of possession of a controlled substance1 and two counts of conspiracy2 to commit that offense. Defendant filed a timely Omnibus Pretrial Motion on November 25, 2014, in the nature of a motion to suppress physical evidence seized from defendant’s purse after a vehicle stop. The parties agreed that the validity of the vehicle stop was not at issue.

[71]*71Hearing was held on December 30, 2014, at which time we heard testimony from Officer Zachary Martz of the Reading City Police Department. After the hearing, we ordered the transcription of the notes of testimony and gave counsel two weeks from the lodging of the notes during which time briefs or memoranda of law could be submitted.

The notes of testimony were lodged on January 2, 2015. Neither counsel availed himself of the opportunity to file briefs of argument or authorities in support of their respective positions.

The matter is thus ripe for adjudication. What follows are our findings of fact and conclusions of law in disposition of defendant’s Omnibus Pretrial Motion.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. On or about May 5,2014, at approximately 9:41 p.m., Officer Zachary Martz, a two and one-half year veteran of the police force of the City of Reading, conducted a traffic stop in the 900 block of Cotton Street in the City of Reading and County of Berks.

2. The vehicle stopped was a 2011 black Hyundai Elantra automobile operated by defendant Janet Lynn Romanski and in which one Angel Viera was traveling in the front passenger seat.

3. Upon approaching the driver’s side of the vehicle, Officer Martz noticed that defendant appeared “quite nervous.”

4. Officer Martz requested a backup officer and Sergeant Liggett responded to the scene.

5. When Officer Martz, having ascertained the identities [72]*72of the individuals riding in the vehicle, returned to his patrol car in order to check for outstanding warrants, he saw Sergeant Liggett remove the passenger, Angel Viera, from the vehicle.

6. Upon approaching the passenger side of the vehicle, Sergeant Liggett informed Officer Martz that he detected an odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.

7. Officer Martz confirmed Sergeant Liggett’s observation, also detecting an odor of marijuana.

8. Prior to any search of the vehicle, the passenger Viera informed the officers that there was a “K-2 roach” in the ashtray in the back of the vehicle and that there was additional K-2 in a package in the vehicle.

9. The officers then began to search the vehicle, finding the partially smoked synthetic marijuana cigar in the rear of the vehicle as Viera had predicted.

10. Officer Martz observed a purse lying on the floor on the passenger side of the vehicle, at which time he asked defendant if the purse belonged to her.

11. No Miranda warnings were given to defendant prior to Officer Martz’s inquiring about the purse’s ownership.

12. After a hesitation of some ten to fifteen seconds, defendant responded that the purse was hers, and that everything in the purse belonged to her “except anything illegal.”

13. Officer Martz then commenced searching the purse.

14. Officer Martz could not recall whether the purse was open or zipped closed when he first began to search it.

15. Defendant was neither asked for nor gave her [73]*73consent for the search of her purse.

16. Upon looking inside the purse, Officer Martz observed an inside pocket which also had a zipper.

17. Upon looking inside the interior compartment, he observed a foil packet, which, when unfolded, contained two rectangular pills which turned out to be Alprazolam.

18. As with the purse itself, Officer Martz could not recall if the interior pocket was zipped closed.

19. Also found inside the purse was a wallet, which Officer Martz opened and searched which contained seven hundred forty-six ($746.00) dollars in United States currency.

20. The currency was found after the two foil wrapped pills were found.

21. In a search of the center console of the car, Officer Martz found drug paraphernalia in the form of a hyperdermic needle and glass smoking pipe.

22. Officer Martz could not recall whether he found the items in the center console before or after he searched defendant’s purse.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Defendant’s omnibus pretrial motion contends that evidence of drug possession recovered from her purse must be suppressed because it was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. We disagree with defendant that the evidence must be suppressed.

“As a general rule, for a search to be reasonable under [74]*74the Fourth Amendment or Article I, Section 8, police must obtain a warrant, supported by probable cause and issued by an independent judicial officer, prior to conducting the search. This general rule is subject to only a few delineated exceptions[.]” Commonwealth v. Gary, 91 A.3d 102, 107 (Pa. 2014) (citations omitted). The United States Supreme Court has recognized an automobile exception to the warrant requirement, which permits the warrantless search of a motor vehicle if it is supported by probable cause. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently adopted the federal automobile exception, holding that the Pennsylvania Constitution “affords no greater protection than the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Id. at 104. Prior to Gary, Pennsylvania case law had required both probable cause and a separate finding of exigency. Id. at 111.

The plurality decision in Gary provides an exhaustive history of how the automobile exception has been treated by federal, Pennsylvania, and other state courts. The court ultimately concluded:

In sum, our review reveals no compelling reason to interpret Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution as providing greater protection with regard to warrantless searches of motor vehicles than does the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, we hold that, in this Commonwealth, the law governing warrantless searches of motor vehicles is coextensive with federal law under the Fourth Amendment. The prerequisite for a warrantless search of a motor vehicle is probable cause to search; no exigency beyond the inherent mobility of a motor vehicle is required. The consistent and firm requirement for probable cause is a strong and sufficient safeguard against illegal searches of motor [75]*75vehicles, whose inherent mobility and the endless factual circumstances that such mobility engenders constitute a per se exigency allowing police officers to make the determination of probable cause in the first instance in the field.

Id. at 138. This holding recognizes the “diminished expectation of privacy in motor vehicles as compared to a residence, office, or person.” Id. at 128.

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Related

United States v. Ross
456 U.S. 798 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Illinois v. Gates
462 U.S. 213 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Copeland
955 A.2d 396 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2008)
Commonwealth v. Burns
700 A.2d 517 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
Commonwealth v. Gary
91 A.3d 102 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
46 Pa. D. & C.5th 69, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-romanski-pactcomplberks-2015.