Court Opinion

ID: 9747300
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:09:21.457277+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:22.595637
License: Public Domain

JOHNSON, Judge,
dissenting.
I join in its entirety the Dissenting Opinion by my esteemed colleague, the Honorable Joseph A. Del Sole. I agree with Judge Del Sole that Commonwealth v. Morgan, 517 Pa. 93, 534 A.2d 1054 (1987), upon which the Majority principally relies, affords no basis for the Majority’s conclusion that apparent authority to consent to a warrantless entry may be found in the words “come on in.”
The suppression court found that, on August 24, 1988, Police Officer Sharkey was present at 2292 North Franklin Street when, pursuant to a search warrant, a search was conducted of the premises that revealed narcotics and drug paraphernalia. On September 7, 1988, Officer Sharkey received information from a confidential informant that an Hispanic male known as Juan was selling narcotics from that same address. The same day, Officer Perez, in plain clothes, went to that address in an effort to purchase cocaine. An Hispanic male at the address told Officer Perez that he had no more quarter-ounces of cocaine left but that quarter-ounces could be purchased by going to the corner outside that location.
Based upon this information, Officer Sharkey obtained a search warrant the same day. At approximately 5:30 p.m., Officer Sharkey went with other officers to the address and executed the warrant. Officer Sharkey knocked on the door but received no response. After waiting approximately two minutes, the officers forced open the door to the premises and commenced a search which revealed narcotics and about $145.00 in U.S. currency. Officer Sharkey returned to police headquarters where, at approximately 7:30 p.m., he received a phone call from a confidential informant stating that Juan was back at the residence.
Without a warrant, Officer Sharkey and other officers returned to the address with the intent of arresting Juan. The *170officers knocked on the door and were advised to enter by a then-unknown female. After entering, Officer Sharkey arrested Juan Rodriquez and George Quiles. Physical evidence, the subject of this appeal, was taken from Quiles.
Quiles moved that the evidence taken from him be suppressed on the basis that the officers’ entry into the home was without a warrant and was not justified by exigent circumstances. The Commonwealth argued initially that the authority conferred by the warrant for the first search that day extended to the subsequent entry, but that the search was also justified by both consent and exigent circumstances.
The suppression court held that, once executed, the warrant could not be relied upon to authorize a subsequent entry. The court found that no evidence was presented from which to conclude that the woman who stated “come in” had actual authority to consent. The court further found that the officer’s entry in reliance upon an unknown person’s consent was not objectively reasonable. Finally, the court rejected the argument of exigency as well, holding that the evidence presented would not support such a conclusion.
On appeal, the Commonwealth has abandoned its position regarding the continuing authority of the warrant, but renews its arguments as to consent and exigency. The Commonwealth correctly asserts that, even absent a warrant, police may enter a dwelling for the purposes of making an arrest where the entry is either consensual or justified by exigent circumstances. Commonwealth v. Moye, 402 Pa.Super. 81, 586 A.2d 406 (1990); Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980).
Regarding consent, the Commonwealth sought to establish Leslie Rodriguez’ authority to consent by establishing that she was a resident of the dwelling. My review of the suppression transcript, however, reveals that the only reference made to Leslie Rodriguez’ address was in reference to “one receipt from letters to Juan and Leslie Rodriguez at 2922 North Franklin Street dated 8/31/88.” N.T., May 12, 1989, at 27. The suppression court was not persuaded that this evidence, even though uncontested, established Leslie Rodriguez’ resi*171dence or authority to consent to the entry. I am not persuaded that this conclusion was erroneous.
The Majority relies upon the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Illinois v. Rodriguez, 497 U.S. 177, 110 S.Ct. 2793, 111 L.Ed.2d 148 (1990) to support its contention that entry by the police in this case was constitutionally permissible. I believe this reliance may be premature. A steady line of case law has evolved under the Pennsylvania Constitution, making clear that Article 1, Section 8 is unshakably linked to a right of privacy in this Commonwealth. Commonwealth v. Edmunds, 526 Pa. 374, 586 A.2d 887 (1991). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in interpreting this provision, has not been bound by decisions of the United States Supreme Court in interpreting similar federal constitutional provisions. See e.g. Edmunds, supra (rejecting the “good faith” exception to the warrant requirement under United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984)); Commonwealth v. Melilli, 521 Pa. 405, 555 A.2d 1254 (1989) (rejecting the installation of pen registers without probable cause under Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 99 S.Ct. 2577, 61 L.Ed.2d 220 (1979)); Commonwealth v. DeJohn, 486 Pa. 32, 403 A.2d 1283 (1979), cert.. denied, 444 U.S. 1032, 100 S.Ct. 704, 62 L.Ed.2d 668 (1980) (upholding the individual right to privacy in one’s own bank records, rejecting United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. 435, 96 S.Ct. 1619, 48 L.Ed.2d 71 (1976)). Our supreme court has stated that Article 1, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution “may be employed to guard individual privacy rights against unreasonable searches and seizures more zealously than the federal government does under the Constitution of the United States.” Melilli, 521 Pa. at 412, 555 A.2d at 1258. In light of our supreme court’s reluctance to adopt the holdings of the United States Supreme Court which unduly infringe upon the right to privacy of the citizens of this Commonwealth, I am unwilling to join in the Majority’s adoption of the holding in Rodriguez, absent a statement on these issues by our supreme court.
The Commonwealth also contends that entry into the dwelling to arrest Juan was justified by the exigency of the *172circumstances. The concept of exigency recognizes that there are situations where the protection of privacy afforded by the warrant requirement is outweighed by the needs of effective law enforcement. See Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967). Exigent circumstances may therefore justify the warrantless entry of a dwelling for the purposes of searching or making an arrest. Commonwealth v. Williams, 483 Pa. 293, 396 A.2d 1177 (1978), cert. denied, Pennsylvania v. Williams, 446 U.S. 912, 100 S.Ct. 1843, 64 L.Ed.2d 266 (1980). The Williams Court enumerated several considerations which it found pertinent to a determination of exigency, including: 1) the gravity of the offense, particularly if violent; 2) the reasonable belief that the suspect is armed; 3) the clear showing of probable cause; 4) a strong reason to believe that the suspect is on the premises; 5) the likelihood that the suspect will escape if not quickly apprehended; and, 6) peaceable entry. Id., 483 Pa. at 298-99, 396 A.2d at 1179-80.
The Commonwealth sets forth the Williams considerations and urges us to conclude, as it does, that the circumstances were sufficiently exigent to justify a warrantless entry into the dwelling. The Commonwealth posits that the police could reasonably have believed that Juan, the person whom they went to arrest, would flee upon discovering that his residence had been searched if he were not apprehended swiftly. After setting forth the Williams analysis, the suppression court concluded that exigency had not been established. While it is not entirely clear that the considerations deemed relevant in Williams aid in the inquiry here, I concur with the suppression court’s determination that any need to arrest the suspects was not sufficiently urgent to excuse the absence of a warrant.
The contention that Quiles was likely to flee is belied by the fact that he did not flee after the search conducted at the residence two weeks earlier uncovered narcotics. More significantly, there is no evidence in the record that any effort was made to obtain a new warrant in the hours between the search in which probable cause to arrest was found and the return to the dwelling. Further, I am not persuaded that the officers *173were unable to secure the premises until a warrant could be procured. As I am unaware of any legitimate interest that was served by foregoing a warrant to re-enter the premises, I would deem this to have been an illegal entry into a dwelling to make an arrest in violation of Payton, supra.
I can only conclude that neither consent nor exigent circumstances existed on the facts as found by the suppression court. In the same manner as Morgan is misused by the Majority on the issue of apparent authority to consent, the Majority’s analysis on the issue of probable cause to arrest assumes too much. The Majority correctly asserts that, when reviewing a Commonwealth appeal from an adverse decision of a suppression court, we may reverse only when the legal conclusions drawn from the facts found by the trial court are erroneous. It also correctly observes that it is the sole province of the suppression court to weigh witness credibility. The fact finder is free to believe all, part or none of the witnesses’ testimony.
Nevertheless, Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 323(i) makes mandatory the requirement that the suppression hearing judge enter upon the record a statement of findings of fact and conclusions of law. Here, the Honorable Russell M. Nigro did exactly that. The Majority incorporates Judge Nigro’s express findings of fact into its Opinion. Majority opinion, pages 155-159. It goes on, however, and attempts to add additional facts to those expressly found by the suppression court, based solely on its belief that “the suppression court found Officer Sharkey credible.” It is true that Judge Nigro, on July 6, 1989, declared from the bench:
THE COURT: I think he [Officer Sharkey] was honest and truthful with me to start with.
Notes of Testimony, July 6, 1989, page 12, R.R. 94a.
There is nothing in the record, however, to support the Majority’s sua sponte supplementation of the findings of fact. As this court recently stated in Commonwealth v. Lagamba, 418 Pa.Super. 1, 613 A.2d 1 (1992) citing Commonwealth v. Hamlin, 503 Pa. 210, 469 A.2d 137 (1983):
*174The well established judicial principle is that in reviewing a suppression court’s ruling the appellate court is bound by factual findings supported by the record and it may not substitute its own findings for those of the suppression court. This principle of deference to trial courts has one important caveat however, appellate courts are not bound by findings wholly lacking in evidence.
An appellate court does not, in the first instance, make findings of fact and conclusions of law. Commonwealth v. Jackson, 464 Pa. 292, 298, 346 A.2d 746, 748 (1975). I have found no caselaw which permits a reviewing court to add to the facts expressly found by the trial court, for the purpose of permitting the reviewing court to establish probable cause for an arrest. The focus must be, and remain, on whether the evidence supports the suppression coint’s factual findings and not on whether additional facts might be lifted from the record in order to reach a different conclusion. Commonwealth v. Smith, 396 Pa.Super. 6, 7, 577 A.2d 1387, 1388 (1990); compare Commonwealth v. Haynes, 395 Pa.Super. 322, 333, 577 A.2d 564, 570 (1990), appeal denied 527 Pa. 598, 589 A.2d 689 (1991).
The Majority first accepts the facts found by Judge Nigro at the reconvened suppression hearing. Transcript, July 6, 1989, pp. 17-19, R.R. 99a-101a. Majority opinion, pp. 155-159. It goes on, however, and, based solely on its belief that Judge Nigro found Officer Sharkey credible, proceeds to supplement the suppression court’s findings as follows:
.... we add the following relevant facts to those of the trial court. Upon entering the premises the second time and announcing their identity, Officer Sharkey and a fellow officer observed a male running up a flight of stairs. The officers gave chase, following the male into the front bedroom, and observed him discard a black leather pouch which proved to contain cocaine. The male, later identified as appellee, George • Quiles, was thereupon arrested and charged with possession of and possession with intent to deliver á controlled substance, and conspiracy.
Majority opinion, pages 157-158. The Majority would seemingly create a new evidentiary rule, binding on future appel*175late courts, that the trier of fact is free to believe all, part or none of a witness’ testimony, but once he believes any part of that testimony and enters express findings of fact thereon, the reviewing court may then adopt the balance, or remaining parts, of that witness’ testimony as facts just as if they had been found by the trial court! I am not prepared to so modify existing divisions of judicial responsibility that have worked so well over time.
The Commonwealth argues that once the officers were lawfully inside, a point that I cannot concede, Quiles’ conduct—fleeing from police and discarding a substantial quantity of drugs—provided police with probable cause to arrest him. My esteemed colleagues on the Majority accept this argument. However, acceptance of this argument requires a finding, as fact, that Quiles fled from the police and that he threw down a small, zippered change purse later found to contain drugs. These are two findings which Judge Nigro could have made, based upon the testimony, but clearly did not make. These findings are crucial to any conclusion of probable cause to arrest. Since these findings only occur outside the record certified to us on appeal, I am unable to join my colleagues in adopting the Commonwealth’s arguments.
I find neither consent nor exigent circumstances in this warrantless episode. Neither can I find probable cause to arrest Quiles, a then-unidentified male, based solely upon his having been chased up a flight of stairs and into a front bedroom where he dropped a small, zippered change purse. Particularly this is so, where the suppression court has set forth extensive findings of fact but has stopped short of finding that Quiles “fled” up the stairs or that he discarded a pouch in plain view of the arresting officers. Accordingly, I must respectfully dissent. The action of the distinguished suppression court, Judge Nigro, was without error. The order suppressing evidence should be affirmed.