Commonwealth v. Watson

43 Pa. D. & C.5th 245
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedOctober 9, 2014
DocketNo. CP-39-CR-2469-2013; 2429 EDA 2014
StatusPublished

This text of 43 Pa. D. & C.5th 245 (Commonwealth v. Watson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Watson, 43 Pa. D. & C.5th 245 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

FORD, J.,

— On March 26, 2014, a jury found defendant/appellant, Cassius Watson, guilty of one count of persons not to possess a firearm, 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105(a)(1). On May 2,2014,1 sentenced appellant to state confinement for three-and-a-half to seven years. This is an appeal from that sentence. Appellant’s only contention on appeal is that I should have granted his pre-trial suppression motion. There is no merit to the appeal.

Appellant was originally charged with the firearms offense and with drug offenses. By the time of trial, all charges except for the firearms offense had been dismissed or withdrawn.

On August 9, 2013, appellant filed omnibus pre-trial motions. This included a motion to suppress evidence seized from appellant’s residence through search warrants. I conducted a hearing on appellant’s suppression motion on November 18,2013. At the hearing, appellant first argued that the police entry into his residence was legally tainted so the firearms and drugs seized following the entry were illegally seized. Appellant also challenged the sufficiency of the search warrants. Third, appellant contended that the police did not comply with the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure in Processing the search warrants. On December 5, 2013,1 denied the suppression motion with an order and opinion.

On June 16, 2014, appellant filed a petition under the [248]*248Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546. In the PCRA petition, appellant claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a direct appeal after appellant had expressed his desire to do so. It was uncontested that defense counsel inadvertently missed the appeal deadline. By order filed on July 28,2014,1 granted appellant’s PCRA petition and allowed him to file a direct appeal of his sentence nunc pro tunc.

Appellant timely filed the present appeal on August 15, 2014. He filed a “concise statement of errors complained of on appeal” (concise statement) under Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) on September 2, 2014, challenging my suppression ruling which I now explain.

Findings of Fact

1. Matthew Kraszewski works at Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown. After he completed his shift on March 21, 2013, he was on the second deck of the hospital’s parking garage. From the second deck, Mr. Kraszewski saw a man standing in the second floor window at 428 Oak Street which is a residence opposite the south side of the parking deck. The man in the window had dark skin and was not wearing a shirt. He was holding a chrome and black pistol. The man then left the window area. Shortly after that, Mr. Kraszewski saw the same man, now wearing a black jacket, exit the house, lean into a car and then return to the house. Mr. Kraszewski was concerned about a recent shooting at Lehigh Valley Hospital and about what others might think should something happen at Sacred Heart Hospital with this man if Kraszewski did not take action. He called the Allentown police.

2. Officer Karl Kozlowski is a twelve-year veteran of the Allentown Police Department. He worked the day shift on March 21. Officer Kozlowski received a radio [249]*249transmission that there was an armed black male wearing a black coat who was at a car at 428 Oak Street and who then entered that residence. Kozlowski responded to 428 Oak Street with Officer Fiorello. Officer Kozlowski noted that there were surveillance cameras outside the residence. He saw “heavy binded books” stacked in the front window of the residence. Based on his experience, such thick books can be used for ballistic purposes. All of this caused the officer’s security awareness to be heightened.

3. Officer Kozlowski knocked on the door. Appellant answered. The officer told appellant about the information he had received. Appellant responded that he had been outside at an SUV. He claimed that he had no gun but he may have been holding a violin case.

4. Appellant invited the officers into the living room at 428 Oak Street. In the living room, Officer Kozlowski asked about guns. Appellant responded that he had guns but they were “legal.” He described each of the guns but said that they belonged to his sister. He told the officers that he was arrested for homicide years ago. He said that the Oak Street residence was his residence. The officers left appellant’s residence.

5. After officers advised Detective Aumaury Almonte of the events of March 21, he investigated appellant’s background and he learned that appellant had a manslaughter conviction. Almonte secured a photo of appellant. He knew from his research of public property records that appellant rented the Oak Street residence. He briefed Detective Kevin Mriss about all that had occurred with appellant. Almonte also consulted the district attorney and obtained consent to secure a search warrant for the Oak Street residence.

6. On March 22,2013, shortly after 6:00 a.m., Detective [250]*250Mriss assisted Detective Almonte in setting up surveillance at 428 Oak Street. Mriss watched the rear of the building while Almonte watched the front. Appellant left the rear of the residence at about 7:00 a.m., entered a blue BMW, and then drove from the area. Very shortly after that, appellant parked the car in the front of his residence. Almonte, Mriss and a patrol officer made contact with appellant there. Appellant was not placed in handcuffs.

7. Detective Almonte told appellant about his plan to secure a search warrant for the residence based on what the police had learned the previous day. Appellant responded that there were children in the home. Appellant was taking care of a 16-year-old boy. His seven-year-old and nine-year-old children were also in the home. Mriss told appellant that he could not re-enter the residence. He did this for officer safety, the children’s safety and the possibility that appellant would hide weapons. Appellant agreed that the police should call the younger children’s mother to take them to school. Appellant provided the mother’s name and phone number to the officers. Because it was cold and the officers were not going to let appellant re-enter the home, they placed him in a patrol van to stay warm. He was still uncuffed.

8. Detective Mriss with other officers knocked on the door of 428 Oak Street. The 16-year-old boy answered. Mriss told the boy that the police were calling the younger children’s mother. Mriss and Almonte entered the living room of the home with the 16-year-old boy. The two younger children were ready for school and were sitting on a sofa in the living room. The police contacted the mother who picked up the children. Police officers remained in the living room while warrants were prepared.

9. Detectives Almonte and Mriss went to police [251]*251headquarters to prepare search warrants. Almonte then drove to the home of Magistrate District Judge (MDJ) Karen Devine who signed the first search warrant. This warrant authorized a search of the home for weapons. After Almonte secured the warrant, he called his supervisor, Sergeant Glenn Granitz, whom he advised that the MDJ had signed the warrant. The search of 428 Oak Street then began. Almonte and Mriss returned to the residence to help with the search.

10. With the first warrant in hand, the police took photos throughout the residence. They found and seized four guns. Detective Mriss saw a bag of suspected cocaine on top of a cabinet in the kitchen. He did not seize it because the warrant was only for weapons.

11.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Begley
780 A.2d 605 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
43 Pa. D. & C.5th 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-watson-pactcompllehigh-2014.