HomeMy WebLinkAboutCP-21-CR-0000327-2011COMMONWEALTH IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
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JAMES DELANO INGRAM : CP -21 -CR -0327-2011
IN RE: OMNIBUS PRE-TRIAL MOTION
BEFORE OLER, J.
OPINION and ORDER OF COURT
OLER, J., September 26, 2011.
In this criminal case, Defendant has been charged with several drug act and
Crimes Code offenses: persons not to possess firearms, possession with intent to deliver a
Schedule 11 controlled substance (cocaine), possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I
controlled substance (marijuana), simple possession of a Schedule 11 controlled substance
(cocaine), simple possession of a Schedule I controlled substance (marijuana), possession
of a small amount of marijuana, and false identification to law enforcement.' For
disposition at this time is Defendant's motion to suppress evidence.
A hearing was held on the motion on July 21, 2011.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
At the suppression hearing, the Commonwealth presented (a) the testimony of the
affiant, a Carlisle Borough police officer,' and (b) two exhibits — a search warrane and a
receipt and inventory of items seized in a search pursuant to the warrant .5 The testimony
presented at the hearing may be summarized as follows:
' Information, filed April 5, 2011.
2 Defendant's Omnibus Pre -Trial Motion, filed May 9, 2011.
s N.T. 4-41, Suppression Hearing, July 21, 2011 (hereinafter N.T. �.
4 Commonwealth's Exhibit 1, Suppression Hearing, July 21, 2011 (hereinafter "Commonwealth's Exhibit
1"
s Commonwealth's Exhibit 2, Suppression Hearing, July 21, 2011 (hereinafter "Commonwealth's Exhibit
2"
On Thursday, January 27, 2011, the affiant, a Carlisle Borough police corporal,
and a Carlisle Borough police sergeant travelled to 436 North Pitt Street in the borough to
locate Defendant pursuant to an active warrant originating in North Carolina.6 In addition
to information about Defendant's address, the officers also had information regarding
Defendant's height, weight, sex and race .7 After encountering Defendant, who answered
the door and who matched the description of the subject of the arrest warrant, and after
his protest that he was not the man for whom the search warrant was issued and his
identification of himself by a name different from that on the warrant, Defendant was
placed under arrest.$
At the time of Defendant's arrest, the front door of his residence was open,9
prompting Defendant to request that the police shut and lock his door.10 Although the
door could be locked by engaging a button on the interior doorknob,' 1 the affiant decided
to enter the residence and went into Defendant's bedroom in the rear of the premises,
where, according to his testimony, he conducted a search for a key to engage a separate
deadbolt lock on the door. 12 Ultimately, in one of the furniture drawers in the bedroom,
he discovered what he believed to be conttraband.13
The affiant left the house upon being advised by radio that Defendant was
objecting to his presence in the residence. 14 The affiant's discovery of suspected
contraband on the premises formed the basis of an application for a search warrant, 15 the
execution of which produced various items of evidence against Defendant. 16
6 N.T. 6-7.
N.T. 8, 10.
'N.T. 8, 10-11.
9 N.T. 12.
10 N.T. 12-13, 62.
" N.T. 27-29.
12 N. T. 14.
13 N. T. 15-16.
14 N.T. 16-17,46,55.
15 N. T. 16, 18.
2
Defendant's challenge to the Commonwealth's evidence is premised upon (a) the
warrantless entry of Defendant's residence without clear consent to the entry and (b) the
warrantless search of the furniture drawer inside Defendant's bedroom without
reasonable suspicion or probable cause. 17
DISCUSSION
Statement of Law
Burden and standard of proof. On a motion to suppress, "[t]he Commonwealth
shall have the burden of going forward with the evidence and of establishing that the
challenged evidence was not obtained in violation of the defendant's rights." Pa. R. Crim.
P. 581(H). The degree of proof required is a preponderance of the evidence.
Commonwealth v. Stoops, 723 A.2d 184, 186 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1998).
Search and seizure. The Bill of Rights in the federal constitution includes the
following provision:
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.
U.S. CONST. amend. IV.
Article 1, Section 8, of the Pennsylvania Constitution also provides that
"[t]he people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and
possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no warrant to
search any place or to seize any person or things shall issue without
describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported
by oath or affirmation subscribed to by the affiant."
PA CONST. art 1, § 8.
16 N. T. 18, 20-21.
17 Defendant's Omnibus Pre -Trial Motion, filed May 9, 2011.
3
In Pennsylvania, it is well recognized that "[a] warrantless search or seizure is
presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment and Article 1, § 8, subject to a
few specifically established, well -delineated exceptions." Commonwealth v. Dean, 2008
PA Super 3, ¶5, 940 A.2d 514, 519. One of these established exceptions to the
requirement of a search warrant is consent to the search on the part of a residence's
occupant. Commonwealth v. Edwards, 1999 PA Super 183, ¶6, 735 A.2d 723, 725. The
Edwards court required that the consent be "unequivocal, specific, and voluntary." Id.
Scope of consent. "The standard for measuring the scope of a suspect's consent
under the Fourth Amendment is that of `objective' reasonableness — what would the
typical reasonable person have understood by the exchange between the officer and the
suspect?" Commonwealth v. Yedinak, 450 Pa. Super. 352, 358, 676 A.2d 1217, 1220
(1996), citing Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248 (1991).
Validity of resultant search warrant. To determine the validity of a search warrant
issued partly upon information obtained through unlawful police conduct, "[a court] must
consider whether, absent the information obtained through the illegal activity, probable
cause existed to issue the warrant." Commonwealth v. Shaw, 476 Pa. 543, 555, 383 A.2d
496, 502 (1978).
Application of Law to Facts
In the present case, the court is unable to find that Defendant's request that his
outside door be locked, under the circumstances recounted above, could objectively be
construed as an unequivocal and specific consent for police to proceed into his home and
search drawers in his bedroom, notwithstanding the subjective belief that the affiant may
have had to the contrary. Accordingly the following order will be entered:
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, this 26th day of September, 2011, upon consideration of Defendant's
Omnibus Pre -Trial Motion in the form of a motion to suppress, following a hearing held
on July 21, 2011, and for the reasons stated in the accompanying opinion, the motion is
granted and the evidence obtained as a result of the affiant's warrantless entry into
Defendant's residence and discovery of suspected contraband is suppressed.
11
BY THE COURT,
s/ J. Wesley Oler, Jr.
J. Wesley Oler, Jr., J.
Jonathan R. Birbeck, Esquire
Chief Deputy District Attorney
Timothy L. Clawges, Esquire
Chief Public Defender
COMMONWEALTH IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
u
JAMES DELANO INGRAM : CP -21 -CR -0327-2011
IN RE: OMNIBUS PRE-TRIAL MOTION
BEFORE OLER, J.
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, this 26th day of September, 2011, upon consideration of Defendant's
Omnibus Pre -Trial Motion in the form of a motion to suppress, following a hearing held
on July 21, 2011, and for the reasons stated in the accompanying opinion, the motion is
granted and the evidence obtained as a result of the affiant's warrantless entry into
Defendant's residence and discovery of suspected contraband is suppressed.
BY THE COURT,
J. Wesley Oler, Jr., J.
Jonathan R. Birbeck, Esquire
Chief Deputy District Attorney
Timothy L. Clawges, Esquire
Chief Public Defender