Commonwealth v. Schwartz

39 Pa. D. & C.2d 607, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 337
CourtPhiladelphia County Court of Quarter Sessions
DecidedApril 14, 1966
Docketnos. 880, 881, 882, 883, 884, 885, 891, 892, 893, 896, 897, 898, 900, 904, 905
StatusPublished

This text of 39 Pa. D. & C.2d 607 (Commonwealth v. Schwartz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Philadelphia County Court of Quarter Sessions primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Schwartz, 39 Pa. D. & C.2d 607, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 337 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1966).

Opinion

McDevitt, P. J.,

This matter comes before the court on defendants’ (Schwartz and Siegel) motion to suppress certain evidence. The motion was made upon the attempt by the Commonwealth to introduce in evidence certain information contained in the records of the Philadelphia Credit Bureau, and is based upon the defense contention that the information sought to be introduced was the fruit of an unlawful search and seizure of certain records of Magistrate Schwartz’ Court no. 11. The motion was submitted to the court on the record, and transcript made on similar motions before the Hon. Stanley M. Greenberg, J., as of court of quarter sessions, September term 1965, no. 4608, the additional testimony of John P. Mason, Special Assistant Attorney General, certain documentary evidence, and oral arguments and briefs of counsel.

Defendants also moved, in separate motions, for the suppression of an oral statement in question and answer form given by defendant Schwartz to Special Assistant Attorneys General Arlen Specter and John P. Mason during the investigation of the Magistrates’ Courts of the City of Philadelphia.

The evidence sought to be suppressed are certain daybooks or dockets and so-called jackets and their contents, and all the fruits thereof; based upon an asserted invasion of defendants’ constitutional rights. [609]*609Specifically, the defense relies upon the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides :

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”.

Reliance is also placed upon the Pennsylvania Constitution, article I, sec. 8, which contains a substantially similar provision.

The law is clear that if the Commonwealth obtained any evidence by means of an unreasonable search and seizure, such evidence may not be admitted against the person whose rights have been so invaded: Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U. S. 643 (1960). Defendants contend, in support of their motion to suppress this evidence, that: (1) the entire magisterial probe was illegal and, therefore, any evidence thus obtained is the result of an unreasonable search and seizure; (2) in any event, the jackets alleged to have been seized were the property of Constable Siegel and, therefore, not subject to investigation by the Attorney General or his assistants, and (3) inasmuch as the investigatory team searched the magistrates’ records without a search warrant or other court order, in the circumstances, the search was unreasonable.

The first proposition is answered simply. In the prior motion to suppress, argued and prosecuted before Judge Greenberg, the court found that the Attorney General did have a common law right to conduct such an investigation and to supersede the District Attorney. The Supreme Court of this Commonwealth has so held: Commonwealth v. Fudeman, 396 Pa. 236 (1959); Commonwealth ex rel. Minerd v. Margiotti, 325 Pa. 17 [610]*610(1936). Smith v. Gallagher, 408 Pa. 551 (1962), did not overrule these decisions. The majority opinion, in fact, states: “This question is not involved in the present case nor is it raised by anyone”: 408 Pa., at page 605. This court is therefore of the opinion that those decisions are binding and must be followed.

Furthermore, as this court views this crucial issue, the question of whether the Attorney General acted properly or not is of no significance.

The Constitutional right to be free from an unreasonable search and seizure is a personal and private right. As with all such rights, it can be waived. “Consent is a waiver of the constitutional protection. Consent therefore makes any product of any search, no matter how unreasonable, admissible in evidence”: Sobel, Current Problems in the Law of Search & Seizure 128 (1964). The burden of proving consent or waiver, generally stated, is upon the Commonwealth. Cf. Pekar v. United States, 315 F. 2d 319; Badillo v. Superior Ct., 46 Cal. 2d 269. See Ker v. California, 374 U. S. 23 (1962), which imposes Federal standards upon the states. Assuming such a burden, the evidence clearly discloses, on the part of Magistrate Schwartz, such a voluntary consent to the examination of the books and records of his court. In essence, what appears to have occurred is that Schwartz welcomed the inspection of his court’s record and dockets. That being so, he cannot now complain when it appears, in retrospect, that he should have been less free in permitting the examination of the magistrate’s court records.

However this may be, under the circumstances of this case, neither Magistrate Schwartz nor Constable Siegel has any basis for complaint. The basic, simple and inescapable conclusion is that we are dealing with official or public records, and not private books of account. A short answer is contained in section 7 of the Magistrates’ Court Act of June 15, 1937, P. L. [611]*6111743, as amended, which provides in pertinent part, 42 PS §1107:

“Each magistrate shall keep a daybook in which he shall enter all costs, fees, fines, penalties, and other moneys collected by him ... He shall also note therein the time when, and the manner in which the same [the cases before him] are disposed of, and the books and papers of said court, including said daybooks, shall be the property of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. . . .” (Italics supplied.)

Magistrate Schwartz now advances the peculiar notion that he is the custodian of what have been called dockets and jackets, and that, therefore, he cannot be compelled to produce them; nor can they be used as evidence against him. And without supporting evidence of any kind, Siegel says that the so-called jackets belong to him (and possibly, may belong to Magistrate Schwartz). Samples of these jackets are in the record before me, and their use and description are clear. They are maintained on a premises, the rental for which is paid by the City of Philadelphia, and which is identified as a magistrate’s court in the same city. All of the employes legitimately engaged in work on the premises, such as the clerks and other persons, are paid by the City of Philadelphia.. The office of magistrate is created by the Pennsylvania Constitution. The envelopes denominated as jackets contained the suit papers and other miscellaneous matter expected to be found in a court record. Under these circumstances, it would be a perversion of fact and law to conclude that when the Magistrates’ Act refers to “books and papers”, these jackets and their contents were not included.

Counsel for defendants have asserted, without proof, that Siegel provided the envelopes used by Schwartz as “jackets”. It would be wholly immaterial that Siegel had provided the envelopes which were used by Schwartz. This is true because when Schwartz used [612]*612these envelopes as an integral part of the books and papers of his office, they became the property of the Commonwealth in the same manner that any papers filed by a party or counsel with the court, which were included as a part of such record, likewise became the property of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

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Mapp v. Ohio
367 U.S. 643 (Supreme Court, 1961)
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Charles Basil Pekar v. United States
315 F.2d 319 (Fifth Circuit, 1963)
Badillo v. Superior Court
294 P.2d 23 (California Supreme Court, 1956)
United States v. Wernes
157 F.2d 797 (Seventh Circuit, 1946)
Commonwealth v. Fudeman
152 A.2d 428 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1959)
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Commonwealth Ex Rel. Minerd v. Margiotti
188 A. 524 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1936)

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Bluebook (online)
39 Pa. D. & C.2d 607, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-schwartz-paqtrsessphilad-1966.