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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-1575 CRIMINALCOMMONWEALTH DEVONNE ERIC STATON IN RE: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 01-1575 CRIMINAL TERM MOTION OF DEFENDANT TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE BEFORE BAYLEY, J. OPINION AND ORDER OF COURT Bayley, J., January 17, 2002:-- Defendant, Devonne Eric Staton, is charged with counts of unlawful possession with intent to deliver a schedule I controlled substance (marijuana),1 and unlawful possession of a schedule I controlled substance (marijuana)? Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence upon which a hearing was conducted on December 18, 2001. The issues were briefed and are ready for decision. We find the following facts. On July 8, 2001, at approximately 3:50 p.m., Trooper Tony Todaro of the Pennsylvania State Police, stopped a car for speeding at 75 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Upper Frankford Township, Cumberland County. The Trooper went to the driver's door. The driver was Doralee Thorpe. The trooper smelled burnt marijuana coming from inside the car. He saw what he believed to be some marijuana residue in the driver door area. Trooper Todaro was 1 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(30). 2 35 P.S. § 780-113(16). 01-1575 CRIMINAL TERM experienced with what marijuana and residue looked like, and with the smell of burnt and raw marijuana. Trooper Todaro told Thorpe why she was stopped. He asked her where she was going and where she had come from. She said she had come from Atlantic City and was going to Pittsburgh. Thorpe had an Avis rental agreement for the 2000 Lincoln Town Car. The rental was in the name of David Williams. The document only authorized Williams to operate the vehicle. The document set forth that the vehicle was rented on June 16, 2001, and was due to be returned on June 22, 2001. Thorpe told Trooper Todaro that David Williams had authorized her to use the vehicle. Trooper Todaro returned to his vehicle, and summoned another trooper. He ran a radio check on Thorpe's driver's license. It was valid. The trooper then returned to the car and asked Thorpe to step outside. He gave her a written warning for speeding. He then asked her about the odor of marijuana that he had smelled coming from inside the car. Thorpe denied any involvement with drugs. Another state trooper arrived. Trooper Todaro, while standing outside the driver's door, asked the right seat passenger, defendant Devonne Staton, about the odor of burnt marijuana. He told the trooper that he had smoked marijuana in the car earlier that day, but that no marijuana was in the car at that time. Trooper Todaro got Staton out of the car and patted him down. Nothing was found. The driver was also patted down and nothing was found. While the other trooper watched Staton and Thorpe, Trooper Todaro searched the interior of the car. He found nothing inside the interior. The residue was too small to -2- 01-1575 CRIMINAL TERM collect. Trooper Todaro then opened the trunk of the vehicle with a key he had gotten from inside the car. With the trunk lid up, the trooper smelled raw marijuana. There was a blue duffel bag on top of some other luggage in the trunk. Trooper Todaro asked who owned the duffel bag. Defendant said that the bag was his. The trooper opened the bag and found four large, wrapped bundles of raw marijuana, plus numerous Ziplock bags of marijuana. Defendant and Thorpe were arrested. The car was impounded and towed to the Pennsylvania State Police Barracks. Later that day, Trooper Todaro questioned defendant, and obtained some statements from him. DISCUSSION Defendant maintains that he was subject to an illegal search, therefore, all contraband seized by the state police, and the statements he made to Trooper Todaro at the State Police Barracks, must be suppressed. Trooper Todaro lawfully stopped the car, in which defendant was a passenger, for a speeding violation. Upon (1) smelling the odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside the car, and (2) seeing what he had reason to believe was some marijuana residue in the driver door area, Trooper Todaro had probable cause to believe that a search of the car would result in the discovery of contraband. Commonwealth v. Stainbrook, 324 Pa. Super. 410 (1984); Commonwealth v. Arnold, (01-0123 Criminal, Cumberland County, October 4, 2001 ). After Trooper Todaro issue the driver a written warning for speeding, defendant told the trooper that he had smoked marijuana in the car earlier that day. Because Trooper Todaro already had smelled the odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside the car, -3- 01-1575 CRIMINAL TERM and saw what he believed to be some marijuana residue in the driver door area, the investigative detention that followed the completion of the traffic stop for speeding was based on reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot. Thus, defendant's statement to the Trooper during this period of investigative detention further bolstered his probable cause to believe that there was contraband in the car. Trooper Todaro did not obtain his information involving contraband in such a way that he could have secured a search warrant before he stopped the car. Unless the car was searched or impounded, the driver was likely to leave and the contents could never again be located by the police. Accordingly, there were exigent circumstances that warranted the search of the car without a search warrant. Commonwealth v. White, 669 A.2d 896 (Pa. 1995); Commonwealth v. Stewart, 740 A.2d 712 (Pa. Super. 1999). Once Trooper Todaro had probable cause to believe that there was contraband in the car, he could lawfully search the interior and the trunk. Commonwealth v. Rosenfelt, 662 A.2d 1131 (Pa. Super. 1995); Commonwealth v. Elliot, 416 Pa. Super. 499 (1992); Commonwealth v. Bailey, 376 Pa. Super. 291 (1988). For the foregoing reasons, the following order is entered. ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this suppress evidence, IS DENIED. day of January, 2002, the motion of defendant to By the Court, -4- 01-1575 CRIMINAL TERM Edgar B. Bayley, J. Edmund Zigmund, Esquire For the Commonwealth George Matangos, Esquire For Defendant :saa -5-