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HomeMy WebLinkAbout92-1468 CriminalCOMMONWEALTH ►im REBECCA ANNETTE RILEY OTN: E074540-4 IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 1468 CRIMINAL 1992 CHARGE: (A) UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA; (B) FURNISHING LIQUOR AND/OR MALT BEVERAGES TO MINORS AFFIANT: CPL. JAMES ADAMS IN RE: DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS BEFORE OLER, J. ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this ( day of July, 1993, upon consideration of Defendant's Motion To Suppress, following a hearing and for the reasons stated in the accompanying Opinion, the Motion is DENIED. BY THE COURT, J - ",� -(-/. QWesley Oler, . William I. Gabig, Esq. Sr. Assistant District Attorney Timothy L. Clawges, Esq. Assistant Public Defender :rc '41 COMMONWEALTH IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 1468 CRIMINAL 1992 CHARGE: (A) UNLAWFUL POSSESSION V. OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA; (B) FURNISHING LIQUOR AND/OR MALT BEVERAGES REBECCA ANNETTE RILEY AFFIANTTO MINORS . : CPL. JAMES ADAMS OTN: E074540-4 IN RE: DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS BEFORE OLER, J. OPINION AND ORDER OF COURT Oler, J. In the present criminal case the Defendant is charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and furnishing alcohol to a minor. For disposition at this time is a motion to suppress filed on behalf of the Defendant. Based upon the evidence presented at a suppression hearing held on Thursday, July 8, 1993, the following Findings of Fact, Discussion and Order of Court are made and entered. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Defendant and moving party is Rebecca Annette Riley, an adult individual residing in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. 2. On Saturday, January 18, 1992, at 2:00 a.m., Corporal James Adams of the Upper Allen Township, Cumberland County, Police Department was on duty in uniform, driving an unmarked police car in the township. 3. At the aforesaid time Corporal Adams noticed an automobile parked with its lights out on the site of an office condominium project along Cumberland Parkway. 4. The car was parked in an unpaved, poorly lit area of the site, approximately 1468 CRIMINAL 1992 15 to 20 yards from, and facing, the road. 5. The office complex was in the final stage of construction and had not yet been occupied. 6. The automobile had not been at this location 15 minutes or so before, when the officer observed the site. 7. Corporal Adams did not detect any movement in the car, felt that the vehicle might have been disabled, and knew of no reason why an automobile would be parked on the premises at that hour. 8. The officer drove onto the site and stopped his car ten feet or so from the other car. 9. As positioned, the cars faced in opposite directions, driver's side to driver's side, generally parallel to each other. The officer's car was somewhat in front of the other and slightly angled with respect to it, so that a departure of the other onto the roadway would have necessitated a deviation from a straight line. 10. Corporal Adams approached the car on foot. 11. The car's motor was running, Defendant was in the driver's seat, and an 18 -year-old male was in the passenger's seat. 12. As the officer approached the car, Defendant rolled her window down. 13. The officer smelled the odor of burning marijuana emanating from the car and noticed beer cans on the floor at the passenger's feet. oil 1468 CRIMINAL 1992 14. He asked the occupants whether there was a problem and was told by Defendant that they were just talking. 15. The officer obtained identification from the occupants. 16. Defendant advised the officer that she had brought the beer and that the passenger had brought the marijuana. In the car were open beer cans, a roach clip, and a can converted for use as a marijuana smoking device. 17. Defendant has filed a suppression motion requesting that "all evidence derived from the officer's stop and/or seizure of the person" be suppressed, on the grounds that the officer's action in stopping his car and approaching Defendant's vehicle "constituted a stop and/or seizure," that the stop and/or seizure was unsupported "by sufficient and articulable facts, which, when coupled with rational inferences therefrom, reasonably warranted the intrusion," and that the stop and/or seizure "was in violation of Defendant's rights under the United States Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution." DISCUSSION "Encounters between the public and the police that do not involve a formal arrest may be categorized as mere encounters, non-custodial detentions, and custodial detentions. Commonwealth v. Ellis, 379 Pa. Super. 337, 353, 549 A.2d 1323, 1331 (1988). The term `mere encounter' refers to certain non -coercive interactions with the police that do not rise to the level of a seizure under the fourth amendment. For 3 1468 CRIMINAL 1992 example, a `mere encounter' occurs if the police simply approach a person on a public street in order to make inquiries. See Commonwealth v. Hall, 475 Pa. 482, 488, 380 A.2d 1238, 1241 (1977)." Commonwealth v. Brown, 388 Pa. Super. 187, 189-90, 565 A.2d 177, 178 (1989); see Commonwealth v. Bennett, 412 Pa. Super. 603, 604 A.2d 276 (1992). A mere encounter between a police officer and a citizen under proper circumstances will not result in a suppression of evidence on the theory that it was a seizure for constitutional purposes. Commonwealth v. Platt, No. 1812 Criminal 1991 (Cumberland County; April 3, 1992). In the present case, the officer's approach of the vehicle to make inquiries under the foregoing circumstances represented a mere encounter as opposed to a stop or seizure, and the evidence of criminal activity which became immediately apparent to him as he did so is not attributable to a constitutional violation. For these reasons, the following Order will be entered: ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this /.play of July, 1993, upon consideration of Defendant's Motion To Suppress, following a hearing and for the reasons stated in the accompanying pinion, the Motion is DENIED. BY THE COURT, s/ J. Wesley Oler, Jr. J. Wesley Oler, Jr. J. 4 1468 CRIMINAL 1992 William I. Gabig, Esq. Sr. Assistant District Attorney Timothy L. Clawges, Esq. Assistant Public Defender :rc