Court Opinion

ID: 9752018
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 17:29:54.870716+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:51:39.500134
License: Public Domain

OLSZEWSKI, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the decision of my esteemed colleagues. I find that Trooper Hughes’s search of the glove box was reasonable. Consequently, I would affirm the judgment of sentence.
In Commonwealth v. Morris, 422 Pa.Super. 343, 619 A.2d 709 (1992), this Court held that when a police officer lawfully stops a vehicle, he may search those areas of the passenger compartment where a weapon may be hidden or placed if he has any reasonable suspicion, based on articulable facts, that the vehicle’s occupants are armed. This holding is based on the officer’s legitimate interest in protecting himself or herself. Id., at 348, 619 A.2d at 712.
The facts in Morris are strikingly similar to those in the present case. Morris was a passenger in a car stopped by a police officer for failing to signal a right-hand turn. When the police officer approached the stopped car, he observed Morris stuffing a brown paper bag under the car seat. The officer went around the car to the passenger side and ordered Morris out of the car. The officer then searched the passenger *359compartment and frisked Morris. While searching the passenger compartment, the officer seized the brown bag shoved under Morris’ car seat and discovered that it contained clear vials of crack cocaine. This Court validated the police officer’s search of the passenger compartment and his frisk of Morris because “the officer’s observation of Morris’ actions created more than a mere guess; his observations supported a genuine belief that his safety was in jeopardy and, at the very least, articulable suspicion that the bag contained contraband or a dangerous weapon.” Id.
Turning to the case at hand, I find that Trooper Hughes’s observations supported a genuine belief that his safety was in jeopardy and, at the very least, articulable suspicion that the glove box contained contraband or a dangerous weapon. Trooper Hughes testified that, after he pulled over the car in which appellant was riding, he observed appellant moving “around from side to side” and “fidgeting with the glove box.” See majority opinion, at 352. When Trooper Hughes approached the passenger side of the car, he observed that appellant’s hands were near the glove box. Id. Trooper Hughes informed the driver of the reason for the stop and then did a cursory search of the inside of the vehicle, of the hands of the driver and appellant, and looked under the seats for weapons. Id. Lastly, Trooper Hughes testified that appellant appeared “nervous” and was “evasive” when questioned. Id. at 357.
Based on these observations, I find that Trooper Hughes had a reasonable suspicion, supported by articulable facts, that appellant and/or the driver were armed and that a weapon was hidden in the glove box. Consequently, I would hold that Trooper Hughes was entitled to search the glove box for his own protection. Furthermore, I agree with the trial court that “under these facts, to allow the vehicle safe passage without a search of the glove compartment would completely ignore the inferences and deductions made by a trained law enforcement officer.” Trial court opinion, 1/27/93, at 2.