Court Opinion

ID: 9747564
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:21:13.313012+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:57:40.254804
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice,
concurring.
While 1 believe that the judgment of sentence in this matter must be reversed and a new trial awarded, my reasons for reaching this result differ from the majority. I cannot agree that Officer Kurtz’s direction to appellant that he alight from his vehicle was such an arbitrary and unreasonable invasion of appellant’s liberty as to violate the fourth amendment.
The requirements of the fourth amendment applicable to the instant case were set forth most recently by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Brig*554noni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 45 L.Ed.2d 607 (1975).
“The Fourth Amendment applies to all seizures of the person, including seizures that involve only a brief detention short of traditional arrest. Davis v. Mississippi, 394 U.S. 721, 89 S.Ct. 1394, 22 L.Ed.2d 676 (1969); Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16-19, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1877, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). “[W]henever a police officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away, he has ‘seized’ that person,” Terry v. Ohio, supra, at 16, 88 S.Ct. [1868] at 1877, and the Fourth Amendment requires that the seizure be “reasonable.” As with other categories of police action subject to Fourth Amendment constraints, the reasonableness of such seizures depends on a balance between the public interest, and the individual’s right to personal security free from arbitrary interference by law officers. Terry v. Ohio, supra, at 20-21, 88 S.Ct. [1868] at 1879; Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 536-37, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 1734, 18 L.Ed.2d 930 (1967).” Id. at 878, 95 S.Ct. at 2578 (emphasis added).
The application of this balancing test to the instant facts yields the conclusion that Officer Kurtz’s action was reasonable. The intrusion occasioned by requiring appellant to step out of the vehicle was minimal. Appellant had in fact already been “seized”. He was properly detained by Officer Kurtz for a violation of the Motor Vehicle Code. Appellant’s freedom of movement was thus lawfully restricted until the officer had finished his business. Requiring a motorist to leave his vehicle under these circumstances is in my view, of no constitutional moment.1 *555The de minimus nature of the intrusion is clearly outweighed by the public interest in insuring the safety of our law enforcement personnel.2
I would thus hold that when appellant alighted from the car, pursuant to the officer’s instructions, the limited search for weapons was justified by the observable bulge under appellant’s jacket. See Terry v. Ohio, supra.
I join my brethren, however, in remanding this matter for a new trial because I believe the trial judge erred in permitting the Assistant District Attorney to cross-examine a defense witness concerning the witness’ and the appellant’s religious affiliations.
*556Clayton Morrison, a passenger in the vehicle at the time of appellant’s arrest,3 testified for the defense that he and not appellant had brought the revolver into the vehicle, and that it was found not on appellant, but under the car seat. On cross-examination, the Assistant District Attorney questioned the witness as to his and Morrison’s religious affiliations as follows:
“Q. Tell me, are you a good friend of Harry Mimms?
“A. I am an acquaintance of him, I know him.
“Q. You know him very well would you say?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Are you both Muslims ?
“A. Sir?
“Objection: Sir, I move for withdrawal of a juror.
“THE COURT: Overruled.
“Q. Are you both Muslims ?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. In other words, when you say ‘Muslims’, followers of the Islam faith is that right?
“A. Yes.”
Appellant’s religious affiliations were never mentioned during direct examination. The Commonwealth does not contend that the questions were relevant to any factual matter at issue during the trial,4 but argues that the testimony was introduced to show the witness’ relationship *557to the appellant and put his credibility in issue. However, our legislature has provided that:
“[n]o witness shall be questioned, in any judicial proceeding, concerning his religious belief; nor shall any evidence be heard upon the subject, for the purpose of affecting either his competency or credibility.” Act of April 23, 1909, P.L. 140, § 3, 28 P.S. § 313 (1958) (emphasis added).
We have stated that no verdict which may have been brought about or even influenced by a litigant’s religious affiliations should be permitted in a court of justice. O’Donnell v. Philadelphia Record Co., 356 Pa. 307, 346-47 n. 5, 51 A.2d 775, 793-94 n. 5, cert. denied, 332 U.S. 766, 68 S.Ct. 74, 92 L.Ed. 351 (1947). This is particularly so where, as here, the religious affiliation placed before the jury is that of a highly controversial and extensively publicized group like the Black Muslims. The potentially prejudicial impact of such testimony is obvious, and its use by the Commonwealth in its attempt to impeach Morrison was error, requiring a new trial.
Accordingly, I concur in the judgment of the Court granting appellant a new trial.
O’BRIEN, J., joins in this concurring opinion.

. The majority’s reliance on Commonwealth v. Pollard, 450 Pa. 138, 299 A.2d 233 (1973), is tenuous at best. Our holding in that case was clearly limited to passengers occupying a vehicle. (“Further, as was previously noted, appellant was not the driver of the automobile.” Id. at 142, 299 A.2d at 235.) The majority in the case at bar ignores this distinction, and thus completely *555overlooks the question left open in Pollard of whether an operator’s expectation of privacy differs from that of an occupant of a vehicle detained for a traffic violation. Cf. United States v. Johnson, 463 F.2d 70 (10th Cir. 1972); Carpenter v. Sigler, 419 F. 2d 169 (8th Cir. 1969).
In People v. Wolf, 60 Ill. 230, 326 N.E.2d 766, cert. denied, 423 U.S. 946, 96 S.Ct. 331, 46 L.Ed.2d 280 (1975), the Supreme Court of Illinois upheld the introduction of evidence obtained by a state police officer when he opened the driver’s door to inspect the serial number of a “suspicious” vehicle detained because its license plate was fastened on with wire. The court sustained the officer’s action in opening the door as reasonable and not inconsistent with the fourth amendment on the ground that the intrusion was minimal. See also United States v. Ware, 457 F.2d 828 (7th Cir. 1972); United States v. Self, 410 F.2d 984 (10th Cir. 1969). In the case at bar, the vehicle was detained for having an expired license plate. Presumably, Officer Kurtz would have been justified in opening appellant’s door to inspect the vehicle identification number. In my view, the difference, if any, in the “degree of intrusion” occasioned by this type of conduct and that instantly held invalid is constitutionally insignificant.

. Risks incurred by officers required to approach parked vehicles were noted by the United States Supreme Court in Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972).
Figures reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation indicate that 125 policemen were murdered in 1971, with all but five of them having been killed by gunshot wounds. Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Bulletin, February 1972, p. 33. According to one study, approximately 30% of police shootings occurred when a police officer approached a suspect seated in an automobile. Bristow, Police Officer Shootings — A Tactical Evaluation, 54 J.Crim.L.C. & P.S. (1963). Id. at 148-149 n. 3, 92 S.Ct. at 1924.

. Prior to appellant’s trial, Morrison had pled guilty to charges of violation of the Uniform Firearms Act and carrying a concealed deadly weapon.

. In McKim v. Philadelphia Transportation Co., 364 Pa. 237, 72 A.2d 122 (1950), this Court permitted questions concerning a litigant’s religious affiliation where it was alleged that her injuries had prevented her from performing her duties as a minister of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The questions were thus permitted to obtain “substantive information”, and not for the purpose of impeachment.