Com. v. Webster

• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court
• Writing for the Court: WATKINS; PRICE; PRICE
• Citation: Com. v. Webster, 435 A.2d 1217, 291 Pa.Super. 271 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1981)
• Decision Date: 26 October 1981
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. William Robert WEBSTER.

Page 1217

435 A.2d 1217

291 Pa.Super. 271

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. William Robert WEBSTER.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Dec. 4, 1980.

Filed May 15, 1981.

Reargument Denied Oct. 26, 1981.

Vram Nedurian, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., Media, for Commonwealth, appellant.

Joseph J. DelSordo, Media, for appellee.

Before PRICE, WATKINS and MONTGOMERY, JJ.

WATKINS, Judge:

This is an appeal from the orders of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, Criminal Division, involving a Commonwealth appeal from an order which found the defendant's arrest to be illegal. The court also held that the search of defendant and his confession were so connected to his illegal arrest so as to be tainted by the arrest. The court further held defendant's confession to be inadmissible because, as a juvenile, he had not had the opportunity to confer with his mother prior to confessing.

The defendant was arrested on January 11, 1980, a few weeks before his 18th birthday. (His date of birth is February 2, 1962). The arrest was made by Pasquale Mignogna, of the Upper Chichester Township Police Department at 12:30 P.M. at the Baltimore & Ohio railroad track overpass at Route 452 in Upper Chichester Township. The arrest was for a burglary which had occurred in the township between 11:00 A.M. and 11:40 A.M. Two other juveniles were also arrested.

After his arrest the defendant was brought to the Aston Township Police Department (Delaware County) for questioning relative to another burglary committed several days prior to January 11, 1980.

As the Aston Township Police station Officer David D'Angelo attempted to contact the defendant's mother for almost an hour. When he reached her she informed him that her older son, Edward, had legal custody over the defendant, and that Edward would be there. When Edward arrived at the station, he and the defendant were left in the room alone to talk. When they returned the defendant signed a waiver and gave two statements to the police, one oral and one written. The statement concerned the Aston Township burglary and took ten minutes to complete. Criminal Complaints relative to the burglaries were subsequently filed against the defendant and the cases transferred to Adult Court. The defendant then filed various pre-trial motions and on March 11, 1980, the court ordered defendant's confessions, his fingerprints taken at the Aston Township police station, and the evidence obtained at the time of his arrest suppressed. The Commonwealth took this appeal.

An opportunity to consult with an interested adult is a prerequisite to an effective waiver of a constitutional right by a juvenile. Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90, 343 A.2d 669 (1975). The court below held that the defendant's 21 year old brother was not in "interested adult" as that term is applied to the prerequisite of juvenile confessions. We do not agree. In the instant case the defendant was several weeks shy of being an adult (age 18), the police contacted his mother (after considerable effort) only to be informed by her that her other son was the defendant's legal guardian, defendant's brother was an adult, and the defendant was permitted to consult with his brother and his brother's wife prior to his confession. Under this set of circumstances we cannot hold that the police violated defendant's right to consult with an "interested adult" prior to waiving his right to remain silent. In fact it appears that defendant's brother was certainly more "interested " in defendant's welfare than was his mother since the brother at least took the time to go to the police station and consult with the defendant while his mother would not. A juvenile must be afforded the opportunity to confer with "an attorney, parent, or other interested adult " prior to effecting a valid waiver of his constitutional right to remain silent. Commonwealth v. Smith, 472 Pa. 492, 372 A.2d 797 (1977). (Emphasis-ours). Nowhere has it been held that only a parent qualifies as an "interested adult". Certainly an adult brother so qualifies. We hold that the court below erred when it found that defendant's confession was inadmissible because he was not afforded the opportunity to confer with an "interested adult" prior to giving his confession.

We also hold that the court below erred when it suppressed the evidence obtained as a result of defendant's arrest. Detective Mignogna arrived at 717 Dulten Street, Upper Chichester Township at noon on January 11, 1980. He was informed that a burglary had been committed at that address on the same date less than an hour before his arrival there. Upon arriving at the house he observed the doorway where the entry had been made and discovered footprints in the new snow which led away from the rear of the home towards the B & O railroad tracks. Another officer radioed Mignogna and informed him that he had observed three youths along the same railroad tracks a few minutes previous to the call. The youths...