Court Opinion

ID: 9746400
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:14:26.352126+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:12.827667
License: Public Domain

KLEIN, J.,
Concurring.
¶ 1 I concur in the result reached by the majority, but do not join in the majority’s reasoning.
¶ 2 Even - if the investigation were continuing when Chief Hovanec ordered Rep-*1207pert out of the car, and there were reasonable grounds to suspect him of dealing illegal drugs, at most Chief Hovanec could have conducted a Terry stop.1 With the level of suspicion Chief Hovanec possessed, just as it would have been improper for him to go beyond a Terry frisk and search Reppert himself, it was equally improper to order Reppert to empty his pockets. The officer cannot accomplish the illegal search by indirect means. In this respect, I agree with Judge Graci.
¶ 3 If the appeal could not be disposed of on this basis, I believe we would have to remand to the trial court for clear findings of fact. Based on the state of the record, we do not know whether the police investigation for the expired sticker was ongoing or had concluded. While it is true that when reviewing an order denying a motion to suppress we “may only consider the Commonwealth’s evidence and the defendant’s evidence that remains uncontradict-ed,” Commonwealth v. Nobalez, 805 A.2d 598, 600 (Pa.Super.2002), that standard does not give this Court the authority to find facts. Rather, that is the standard by which we judge the trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. More fully stated, the standard is, “When reviewing an order denying a motion to suppress evidence, we must determine whether the evidence of record supports the factual findings of the trial court. In making this determination, this court may only consider the Commonwealth’s evidence and the defendant’s evidence that remains uncon-tradicted.” Id. (citations omitted). In the context of an appeal, we cannot find facts.
¶ 4 In this case, because the trial judge did not state on the record his findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Pa.R.Crim.P. 581(i), material fact questions remain unresolved. Since the testimony about whether Chief Hovanec ordered Reppert out of the car before or after he realized who Reppert was is contradictory, we cannot determine whether the Chiefs acts were proper.
¶ 5 Chief Hovanec testified that he ordered Reppert out of the car because of his early observations and the fact that he was “acting very nervous” (N.T. 8/31/00 at 5, RR 15a) and that he did not know his name until he was out of the car (N.T. 8/31/00 at 16-17, RR 26d-27a). According to the Chiefs own testimony, the expired-sticker investigation was over by the time he ordered Reppert out of the car. N.T. 8/31/00 at 9, RR 19a.
¶ 6 In direct contradiction, the driver of the car, Justin Morgan, testified that right after Morgan explained that he had already been stopped for the inspection sticker, Chief Hovanec asked who was in the back seat. Reppert answered, “Ben Reppert” (N.T. 8/31/01, at 35-36, RR 45d-46d). The Chief knew Reppert’s father and knew Ben was under a drug investigation. Defendant Ben Reppert also testified that he gave his name before he was ordered out of the car, after Chief Hova-nec asked if he had put anything under the seat and asked him his name. (N.T. 8/31/02, at 41-42, RR 51a-52a).
¶7 If Chief Hovanec ordered Reppert out before realizing Reppert was under a drug investigation, the further investigation and order to get out of the car was improper. The case law provides that “antsy” movements and acting nervous do not in and of themselves justify a Terry stop. Commonwealth v. Boyer, 455 Pa. 283, 314 A.2d 317 (1974). However, certainly it was no violation to ask Reppert’s name. At that point, the Chief would have realized that the passenger was under a drug investigation. That fact, combined *1208with the other factors, would have rendered ordering him out of the car proper.
¶ 8 But we cannot resolve that conflict. That function lies with the trial court, which presents an interesting circumstance. If the trial judge believes the Commonwealth’s witness, the further investigation was improper. On the other hand, if the trial judge believes the testimony of Reppert and the other defense witness, the further investigation was proper.
¶ 9 As the majority notes, courts often say that in reviewing the denial of a suppression motion, the appellate courts may consider “only the evidence of the prosecution and so much of the evidence for the defense as remains uncontradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole.” See, e.g., Commonwealth v. McClease, 750 A.2d 320, 323 (Pa.Super.2000). Normally, that means the un-contradicted evidence for the defense that goes against the Commonwealth. Here, there is contradicted defense evidence that favors the Commonwealth: that the Chief did not order Reppert out of the car until after he found out his name and remembered he was a drug suspect.
¶ 10 The sensible interpretation of the rule is that when reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we look at all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth and determine whether the record supports the suppression court’s findings of fact. We then review the legal conclusion of admissibility de novo. This restatement of the rule is particularly apt since the boilerplate remark reminds courts to consider the evidence “in the context of the record as a whole.” This view is supported by the weight of authority from other American courts.2
*1209¶ 11 The suppression judge, as trier of fact, can believe the testimony of defense witnesses, disbelieve the Commonwealth’s witnesses, and if the defense testimony supports admission, find for the Commonwealth. On review, we look at the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth. In the usual case, Pennsylvania’s boilerplate standard will achieve that goal. This is the unusual case, where the defense witnesses have supported the Commonwealth’s argument.
¶ 12 As explained above, without findings of fact, I do not believe we can resolve whether ordering Reppert out of the car was proper. However, even if the Chief could properly order Reppert out of the car, he could not order him to empty his pockets. For that reason, reversal is in order, and I concur.

. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).

. Although using different phraseology, most jurisdictions examine the suppression court's findings of fact by referring to the whole suppression record and seeing if the evidence supports the suppression court's findings. See, e.g., United States v. Twomey, 884 F.2d 46, 51-52 (1st Cir.1989) (reviewing findings of fact for clear error); United States v. Reyes, 283 F.3d 446, 450 (2d Cir.2002) (reviewing findings of fact for clear error, construing evidence in light most favorable to government); United States v. Myers, 308 F.3d 251, 255 (2002) ("We construe the record in the light most favorable to the government.”); United States v. Seidman, 156 F.3d 542, 547 (4th Cir.1998) ("[I]n reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the government.”); United States v. Santiago, 310 F.3d 336, 339-40 (2002) (reviewing evidence in light most favorable to government); United States v. Johnson, 242 F.3d 707, 709 (6th Cir.2001) (viewing evidence "in the light most likely to support the district court's decision."); United States v. Lomeli, 76 F.3d 146, 149 (7th Cir.1996) (reviewing for clear error); United States v. Smith, 266 F.3d 902, 904 (8th Cir.2001) ("We review de novo the trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, ‘evaluating only for clear error, however, any findings of fact by the trial court and giving appropriate deference to the inferences apparently drawn from those facts by law enforcement officers, the court that issued the search warrants, and the trial court' ” (citation omitted)); United States v. Chavez-Miranda, 306 F.3d 973, 977 (9th Cir.2002) (reviewing findings of fact for clear error), United States v. McKissick, 204 F.3d 1282, 1296 (10th Cir.2000) ("When reviewing a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress, we consider the totality of the circumstances and view the evidence in a light most favorable to the government.”); United States v. Holloway, 290 F.3d 1331, 1334 (11th Cir.2002) (reviewing findings of fact for clear error), United States v. Davis, 344 U.S.App.D.C. 212, 235 F.3d 584, 586 (D.C.Cir.2000) (reviewing findings of fact for clear error); State v. Joubert, 20 P.3d 1115, 1118 (Alaska 2001) (reviewing denial of suppression motion in light most favorable to upholding trial court's decision; reversing findings of fact for clear error only); Ilo v. State, 350 Ark. 138, 85 S.W.3d 542, 546-47 (2002) (reviewing evidence in denial of motion to suppress in light most favorable to state); People v. Shaw, 97 Cal.App.4th 833, 118 Cal.Rptr.2d 678, 681 (2002) (reviewing suppression court's findings of fact under substantial evidence standard); State v. Jackson, 73 Conn.App. 338, 808 A.2d *1209388, 413 (2002) (reversing suppression couit's findings of facts for abuse of discretion or for injustice, giving “every reasonable presumption in favor of the trial court's ruling”); McAllister v. State, 807 A.2d 1119, 1123 (Del.Super.2002) (reversing suppression court’s findings of fact only if "not the result of a logical and orderly deductive process”); Chavez v. State, 832 So.2d 730, 748-49 (2002) (deferring to suppression court on questions of fact); Rogers v. State, 253 Ga.App. 863, 560 S.E.2d 742, 743 (2002) (construing evidence in light most favorable to trial court’s derision, and reversing findings only if clearly erroneous); State v. Edwards, 96 Hawai'i 224, 30 P.3d 238, 245 (2001) (reviewing suppression court’s findings of fact under clearly erroneous standard); State v. Doe, 137 Idaho 519, 50 P.3d 1014, 1017 (2002) (reviewing suppression court's findings of fact for clear error); People v. DeLuna, 334 Ill.App.3d 1, 267 Ill.Dec. 778, 777 N.E.2d 581, 586-87 (2002) (reversing suppression court’s findings of fact only if against manifest weight of the evidence); Nathan v. State, 370 Md. 648, 805 A.2d 1086, 1093 (2002) (reviewing findings of fact in light most favorable to the prevailing party); State v. Potter, 72 S.W.3d 307, 313 (Mo.Ct.App.2002) (reviewing findings of fact for clear error), State v. Padilla, 321 N.J.Super. 96, 728 A.2d 279, 284 (App.Div.1999) (reviewing suppression court’s decision for sufficiency of the evidence, giving “due deference" to trial judge’s credibility determinations); State v. Romero, 132 N.M. 364, 48 P.3d 102, 104 (App.2002) (reviewing findings of fact under substantial evidence standard); People v. Velazquez, 73 N.Y.2d 815, 537 N.Y.S.2d 112, 534 N.E.2d 29, 30 (1988) (reviewing for sufficiency of the evidence). State v. Carr, 2002 WL 1881158, at *2 (Ohio Ct. App. Aug. 16, 2002) ("[W]e are bound to accept the trial court's findings of fact if they are supported by competent, credible evidence.”); State v. Ehly, 317 Or. 66, 854 P.2d 421, 427 (1993) (reviewing suppression court’s findings of fact for sufficiency of evidence); State v. Hullinger, 649 N.W.2d 253, 256 (S.D.2002) (reviewing suppression court’s findings of fact for clear error); State v. Levitt, 73 S.W.3d 159, 169 (Tenn.Crim.App.2001) (reviewing findings of fact under weight of evidence standard); Carmouche v. State, 10 S.W.3d 323, 327-28 (Tex.Crim.App.2000) ("When the trial court does not make explicit findings of historical fact, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling.”); State v. Galvan, 37 P.3d 1197, 1198 (Utah Ct.App.2001) (reviewing findings of fact for clear error); Sheler v. Commonwealth, 38 Va.App. 465, 566 S.E.2d 203, 206 (2002) (reviewing evidence in light most favorable to Commonwealth), State v. Hill, 123 Wash.2d 641, 870 P.2d 313, 316 (1994) (reviewing suppression court's findings of facts under substantial evidence test); Allen v. State, 43 P.3d 551 (Wyo.2002) (reviewing findings of fact for clear error). But see Roehling v. State, 776 N.E.2d 961 (Ind.Ct.App.2002) (stating that court considers conflicting evidence in light most favorable to the state, and uncontradicted evidence in the light most favorable to defendant.)