Court Opinion

ID: 9747448
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:15:32.634174+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:23.813480
License: Public Domain

DEL SOLE, Judge,
dissenting:
I dissent. I cannot find sufficient evidence to support a determination that the stop of Appellee was justified.
To justify a stop under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), the police must have a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. The police must be able to point to specific and articulable facts which reasonably support that suspicion. Commonwealth v. Murray, 460 Pa. 53, 331 A.2d 414 (1975). Reasonable suspicion is viewed under a totality of the circumstances test in which both the content of the officer’s information and the reliability of that information are taken into account. United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 101 S.Ct. 690, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981). Where a tip is anonymous and its reliability therefore relatively low, the officer must have more information than would be required if the tip were more reliable. Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990). This court has held that the police must have both suspicious conduct on the part of the person detained and a reasonable belief of some sort of *214criminal activity. Commonwealth v. Espada, 364 Pa.Super. 604, 528 A.2d 968 (1987).
The information which Officer Bey received was secondhand. The senior citizen did not give information directly to the police. Rather, she told a retired police officer who then passed the information along to Officer Bey. The information itself was not specific; the woman stated only that a man whose description fit Appellee was selling drugs at a certain location and was known to carry a gun. Also, the only evidence of the informant’s reliability is that she was a concerned citizen. See Commonwealth v. Dennis, 417 Pa.Super. 425, 612 A.2d 1014 (1992). Finally, there is absolutely no evidence of suspicious conduct on Appellee’s part. He was merely sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, which is certainly not indicative of any criminal activity.
The majority relies primarily on Interest of S.D., 429 Pa.Super. 576, 633 A.2d 172 (1993). I do not find that case to be controlling. Several factors distinguish S.D. from this case. In S.D., the police received the information directly rather than second-hand and were only fifty feet away when the informant saw the defendant. The stop occurred at 5:25 in the morning, an unusual time to be out on the street, whereas here the stop occurred in early afternoon, a time when one might logically be expected to be sitting outside. Most importantly, however, the court in S.D. reversed the denial of suppression because the scope of the" search exceeded that permitted by Terry. The entire discussion of reasonable suspicion, therefore, was not required in order to support the result in that case.
In numerous other cases, this court has held that an anonymous tip, without any suspicious conduct whatsoever and without any corroboration, is insufficient to support even a Terry stop. See, e.g., Interest of Barry W., 423 Pa.Super. 549, 621 A.2d 669 (1993) (radio call of male selling drugs; defendant saw police and fled); Interest of S.J., 425 Pa.Super. 270, 624 A.2d 1068 (1993) (radio call of black female wearing red jacket, blue jeans, red sneakers and curlers in her hair selling drugs at a specific location; police only saw the woman talking *215to two men). I see no reason for a different result in this case. The only information the police had was that a man answering Appellee’s description was selling drugs. The officer observed no suspicious conduct; Appellee was sitting in a chair apparently napping. This does not rise to the level of a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. I would affirm the trial court’s order suppressing the fruits of the search.