Commonwealth v. Slonaker

795 A.2d 397, 2002 Pa. Super. 66, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 281
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 14, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 795 A.2d 397 (Commonwealth v. Slonaker) 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. Slonaker, 795 A.2d 397, 2002 Pa. Super. 66, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 281 (Pa. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

STEVENS, J.

¶ 1 This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County following Appellant’s conviction on the charge of Driving Under the Influence.1 Appellant contends (1) that the police officer did not have sufficient evidence to arrest Appellant for Driving under the Influence and (2) that the police officer did not have probable cause to stop Appellant’s vehicle. We affirm the judgment of sentence.

¶2 The relevant facts and procedural history are as follows: On January 2, 2000 at approximately 7:00 p.m., Trooper James Marasco of the Pennsylvania State Police was on routine patrol on SR 1010 when he observed a maroon Buick sedan driven by Appellant travel over the white fog line to the right of the roadway. The trooper followed the vehicle for approximately five miles. Over the course of the five miles, Trooper Marasco saw the two tires on the right side of the vehicle cross the fog line and remain there for several seconds two more times. He also saw Appellant drive over the double yellow line in the center of the roadway and on the fog line without completely crossing these lines. Appellant’s speed was between 40 and 60 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone and the trooper observed the car continuously moving from left to right within Appellant’s lane of travel.

¶3 Because of Appellant’s driving, the trooper stopped the vehicle and approached Appellant, who was sitting behind the wheel. Appellant’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and he exhibited an odor of alcohol. Trooper Marasco asked Appellant to perform two field sobriety tests, the one-leg stand and the walk-and-turn, both of which Appellant failed. Appellant was arrested and transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital where he consented to a blood alcohol test. Appellant’s BAC was .138%.

¶4 Appellant was charged with two counts of Driving Under the Influence of Acohol and the summary offense of Driving on Roadways Laned for Traffic,2 and Appellant filed pre-trial motions seeking suppression of the BAC result and Appellant’s failure of the field sobriety tests.3 Following a hearing, the motions were disposed of by order of court dated November 3, 2000. The court suppressed the evidence of the field sobriety tests but ruled that the BAC results would be admissible as Trooper Marasco had probable cause to stop and arrest Appellant and request that Appellant submit to a blood alcohol test.4 Appellant proceeded to a [400]*400jury trial, and on January 19, 2001, he was found guilty of the charge indicated supra.

¶ 5 On March 9, 2001, Appellant was sentenced, and on March 13, 2001, Appellant filed a direct appeal. The trial court ordered Appellant to file a statement pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.1925(b), such a statement was filed, and the trial court filed a Pa.R.A.P.1925(a) opinion.

¶ 6 We address first Appellant’s contention that Trooper Marasco did not have probable cause to stop Appellant’s vehicle.

When we review the ruling of a suppression court, we must determine whether its factual findings are supported by the record. Where the defendant challenges an adverse ruling of the suppression court, we will consider only the evidence for the prosecution and whatever evidence for the defense which is uncontradicted on the record as a whole; if there is support on the record, we are bound by the suppression court, and we may reverse that court only if the legal conclusions drawn from these facts are erroneous.

Commonwealth v. Holt, 711 A.2d 1011, 1014 (Pa.Super.1998) (citations omitted).

¶ 7 In his appellate brief, Appellant claims that the driving of Appellant, observed by the trooper, was insufficient to establish probable cause to conduct a valid vehicle stop. We disagree.

¶ 8 The legislature has vested police officers with authority to stop a vehicle when they have “articulable and reasonable grounds to suspect a violation of the Vehicle Code.” 75 Pa.C.S. § 6308(b).

If the alleged basis of a vehicular stop is to permit a determination whether there has been compliance with the Motor Ve-hide Code of this Commonwealth, it is encumbent[sic] upon the officer to articulate specific facts possessed by him, at the time of the questioned stop, which would provide probable cause to believe that the vehicle or the driver was in violation of some provision of the Code.

Commonwealth v. Whitmyer, 542 Pa. 545, 550, 668 A.2d 1113, 1116 (1995) (citations omitted)(emphasis in original).

¶ 9 Trooper Marasco testified at the suppression hearing that he observed Appellant’s driving for five miles, that Appellant’s vehicle fully crossed the white fog line three times during the five mile stretch, and that the wheels of Appellant’s vehicle remained there for several seconds each time. The trooper saw Appellant weave numerous times over the double yellow center line and the white fog line without fully crossing either line. Appellant also wove side to side continuously in his lane of travel and his speed varied between 40 and 60 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone. N.T. 9/26/2000 at 3. The trooper testified that, in his experience, a vehicle weaving erratically at night indicates that the driver may be intoxicated. N.T. 9/26/2000 at 17-18.

¶ 10 Our courts recognize that while the Commonwealth has an interest in enforcing rules designed to maintain safety on our roads, an individual does not lose all reasonable expectation of privacy when he takes to the highway in a vehicle. A police officer must have specific facts justifying the intrusion. Commonwealth v. Gleason, 567 Pa. 111, 785 A.2d 983 (2001).

¶ 11 In Gleason, supra, the Court addressed the issue of assessing when an officer has sufficient indicia of erratic driving to give the officer probable cause to [401]*401stop a vehicle. Specifically, the defendant in Gleason was followed by a police officer for one quarter of a mile and over that distance, defendant’s vehicle crossed the solid fog line two or three times. Additionally, there were no other cars on the road. The Court found that, “[g]iven the early morning hour, the fact that there was no other traffic on the roadway and the rather momentary nature of defendant’s vehicle crossing the fog fine..., the officer erred in believing he had justification to stop defendant’s vehicle.” Gleason, 785 A.2d at 986.

¶ 12 In the case sub judice, Appellant’s driving was significantly less benign. Uncontradicted testimony established that he wove continuously over a five mile stretch of road, accelerating and decelerating as he went on his way in the dark that evening. Furthermore, Appellant wove outside his lane of travel on three occasions.

¶ 13 The facts in this case are not unlike those articulated in Commonwealth v. Howard, 762 A.2d 360 (Pa.Super.2000). A trooper observed the defendant’s vehicle drive onto the berm twice, veer into the center of the roadway, and, after turning onto another road, cross the yellow center line. This Court found these facts sufficient to justify the traffic stop.

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Bluebook (online)
795 A.2d 397, 2002 Pa. Super. 66, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-slonaker-pasuperct-2002.