Court Opinion

ID: 9646335
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 12:57:14.691342+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:37.214728
License: Public Domain

*69ROBERTS, Justice,
concurring.
I agree that the order of the suppression court suppressing physical evidence must be affirmed. The role of an appellate court in reviewing suppression orders is well-established. As stated by this Court in Commonwealth v. Brown, 473 Pa. 562, 566, 375 A.2d 1260, 1262 (1977):
“When ruling on suppression motions, the suppression court is required to make findings of fact and conclusions of law as to whether evidence was obtained in violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights. Pa.R.Crim.P. 323(i). The suppression court must determine whether the Commonwealth has established by a preponderance of the evidence that the challenged evidence is admissible. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 323(h). On review, our responsibility is ‘to determine whether the record supports the factual findings of the court below and the legitimacy of the inferences and legal conclusions drawn from those findings.’ Commonwealth v. Goodwin, 460 Pa. 516, 521, 333 A.2d 892, 895 (1975).”
See Commonwealth v. Stafford, 451 Pa. 95, 101, 301 A.2d 600, 604 (1973); Commonwealth v. Sharpe, 449 Pa. 35, 44, 296 A.2d 519, 524 (1972).
Here, the suppression court found that an arrest occurred when the officer positioned his vehicle so as to prevent movement of appellant’s car. There is ample support in the record to support this finding. See Commonwealth v. Bosurgi, 411 Pa. 56, 68, 190 A.2d 304, 311 (1963). The suppression court further found that appellant’s arrest was not based on probable cause. The Commonwealth agrees that probable cause to arrest did not exist at the time the police officer pulled directly in front of appellant’s vehicle. Accordingly, the suppression court’s conclusion that the evidence must be suppressed because the subsequent search followed an unlawful arrest is supported by the record and is not erroneous as a matter of law. Thus, we need not discuss the issue of whether the officer’s search was justified under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868 (1968) and its progeny.
*70The order of the suppression court suppressing the evidence must be affirmed.