Court Opinion

ID: 9760023
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 00:38:50.485658+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:07.586675
License: Public Domain

HOFFMAN, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. The police here should have obtained a second warrant before searching appellant’s luggage. After appellant returned from the yard, the luggage was firmly under police control, and no exigent circumstances compelled the immediate warrantless search as they might in an automobile case. See Commonwealth v. Davis, 270 Pa.Superior Ct. 202, 411 A.2d 250 (1979) (Commonwealth must prove exigent circumstances by clear and convincing evidence). Moreover, the majority draws contrary inferences from the same facts. Appellant’s nonverbal act of carrying the suitcases was the basis of his being convicted of possessing their contents. Yet the majority holds that this act was not enough for purposes of seeking a warrant to notify the police officers that appellant laid claim to the suitcases as his. The lower court refused to accept such reasoning, and so do I. Accordingly, I would affirm the lower court’s suppression order.