Court Opinion

ID: 9641576
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:35:16.849293+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:38.329835
License: Public Domain

SPAETH, Judge,
concurring:
I agree with the majority’s disposition but think a comment in order on the suppression issue.
The evidence seized and introduced was a tan coat, a black coat, hat, two other hats, and a nylon stocking. At the point of the arrest, the police looked into the car and saw the tan coat, black coat, and first hat. These items were admissible under the plain view doctrine because the police were acting lawfully when they spotted the items. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971). The two other hats and the nylon stocking were retrieved from the trunk and the glove compartment. I do not see how these items can come in under the plain view doctrine, nor do I see how it can be said that the Commonwealth had probable cause to search for them. Nor is there any way that the admission of these three items can be justified under a theory of search incident to arrest. However, the admission, though error, does not require a new trial. The three items do not seem to have any relationship to the case; they were not mentioned in the eye witness accounts of the robbery and therefore they did not serve to identify appellant. There is not enough prejudice to justify a new trial.