Com. v. White

• Citation: 543 Pa. 45,669 A.2d 896
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. William WHITE, Appellant.
• Decision Date: 29 December 1995
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Page 896

669 A.2d 896

543 Pa. 45

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. William WHITE, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Dec. 29, 1995.

[543 Pa. 47] Robert E. Stewart, Pittsburgh, for Appellant.

Robert E. Colville, District Attorney, Claire C. Capristo, Deputy District Attorney, Kemal A. Mericli, Michael W. Streily, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before NIX, C.J., and FLAHERTY, ZAPPALA, PAPADAKOS, CAPPY, CASTILLE and MONTEMURO, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

FLAHERTY, Justice.

The sole issue raised in this case is whether the police may conduct a warrantless search of an automobile, absent exigent circumstances, after its occupants have been arrested and are outside the automobile in police custody. For the reasons that follow, we hold that such a search is illegal and that evidence seized as a result must be suppressed.

The facts of record are that in late 1989 Pittsburgh police received anonymous telephone calls identifying William White and Henry Bennett as drug dealers. The caller described the two men and gave their addresses and locations where they allegedly dealt drugs. Subsequently, police met with a confidential informer who confirmed the information given by the anonymous caller and added a description of Bennett's car and the method by which the two made drug deliveries.

In late January, 1990, police arranged a controlled purchase of cocaine using the confidential informer. One of the two officers who witnessed the purchase and the informer identified White as the person who sold cocaine to the informer. The material purchased from White tested positively as cocaine.

In February, 1990, the confidential informer told police that he had seen a large supply of cocaine in Bennett's house; that Bennett told him that he would be selling cocaine that weekend; and that the drugs were being moved back and forth between Bennett's and White's residences. He also told detectives that the dealers intended to make a sale of cocaine behind Abbott's Beer Distributor on Saturday, February 17, 1990.

Police arranged to have the area put under surveillance on February 17. The two detectives who had been working on the case met with others who would be assisting that day and briefed them. The essence of what the other police were told was that a blue car was expected to be involved in an illegal drug sale. Early on February 17, the two detectives who controlled the investigation drove by Bennett's house and witnessed Bennett, White and another man standing on the front porch.

Based on the totality of their information, the detectives secured search warrants for Bennett's residence, his vehicle, and his person as well as White's residence and person. They did not obtain a search warrant for White's vehicle. The detectives then returned to the stakeout area and communicated to other officers that they had secured search warrants.

Shortly thereafter, White drove his blue Ford into the area. An unidentified man got into White's car, and as this was happening, Bennett drove into the area and passed White's car several times before leaving the area. When Bennett was gone, police converged upon White's car.

Although police accounts of what happened during White's arrest differ somewhat, the essence is that six or eight police officers converged upon White's car and took both the passenger and White into custody. According to one officer's account, the driver emerged at gunpoint; another officer, who was also present, said that the driver exited the car voluntarily after the officer identified himself and asked him to come out of the car.

Next, two officers partially entered the car from both open doors. The officer on the passenger side of the car first noticed and communicated to his colleague that a marijuana cigarette was present on the console between the seats; moments after that the officer on the driver's side retrieved a brown paper bag from between the two front seats, which he took outside the car to open. Upon discovering that the bag contained cocaine, the officer announced to the others that he had "the dope," and the occupants of the car were handcuffed.

The court of common pleas, sitting as a suppression court, suppressed the evidence on the grounds that White was not arrested until after the warrantless search uncovered a marijuana cigarette and the cocaine. The court further observed that there were no exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless search of the car and that police had time to secure a search warrant for the vehicle because they received information about the February 17 transaction between thirty-six and forty-eight hours before the search.

Superior Court reversed, holding that a search warrant for White's automobile was not required because police had probable cause to search the vehicle and the search was properly conducted pursuant to the "automobile exception" to the warrant requirement. The rationale for this exception is said to be that it is impracticable to obtain warrants for vehicles in transit because of their highly mobile nature, and that absent the search it is possible that the vehicle will be moved and contraband will disappear. Superior Court acknowledged that a warrantless search of a vehicle is permissible only when probable cause arises in an unforeseen way, but concluded that probable cause was unforeseen in this case because it was unknown what vehicle would be used.

Superior Court also held that in any event, the search occurred "incident to a lawful arrest," and was, therefore, justified.

We granted allowance of appeal in order to address the question of when police must secure search warrants in order to conduct vehicle searches.

Before addressing these substantive matters, however, it is necessary to address the Commonwealth's claim that White has waived his claim that the search of his automobile was illegal under Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution ¹ because he did not set forth his state constitutional claims in the manner required by Commonwealth v. Edmunds, 526 Pa. 374, 586 A.2d 887 (1991). This claim is meritless. White clearly raises a claim under the Pennsylvania Constitution, cites cases in support of his claim, and relates the cases to the claim. That is sufficient. In Edmunds, in dicta, this court clearly stressed the importance of briefing and analyzing certain factors in order to aid the courts in reviewing state constitutional issues. ² While not mandating the analysis, we reaffirm its importance and encourage its use. In other words, Edmunds expresses the idea that it may be helpful to address the concerns listed therein, not that these concerns must be addressed in order for a claim asserted under the Pennsylvania Constitution to be cognizable.

Having concluded that White has raised cognizable claims under the Pennsylvania Constitution, it remains to address whether the search was justified because it was conducted pursuant to the "automobile exception"; whether the search was justified because the probable cause on which it was based arose in an unforeseen manner; whether the search was permissible because it was incident to an arrest; and whether the search is to be excused because an inventory search would have disclosed the same evidence.

With respect to the claim that the search of the vehicle was permissible under the "automobile exception," the Commonwealth and Superior Court are in error. The so-called "automobile exception" to the requirement for a search warrant is perhaps best articulated in Chambers v. Maroney:

In enforcing the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, the Court has insisted upon probable cause as a minimum requirement for a reasonable search permitted by the Constitution. As a general rule, it has also required the judgment of a magistrate on the probable-cause issue and the issuance of a warrant before a search is made. Only in exigent circumstances will the judgment of the police as to probable cause serve as a sufficient authorization for a search. Carroll, supra, holds a search warrant unnecessary where there is probable cause to search an automobile stopped on the highway; the car is movable, the occupants are alerted, and the car's contents may never be found again if a warrant must be obtained. Hence an immediate search is constitutionally permissible.

399 U.S. 42, 51, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 1981, 26 L.Ed.2d 419, 428 (1970) (Emphasis added).

In sum, the general rule is that a search warrant is required before police may conduct any search. As an exception to this rule, police may search a vehicle without a warrant where: (1) there is probable cause to believe that an automobile contains evidence of criminal activity; (2) unless the car is searched or impounded, the occupants of the automobile are likely to drive away and contents of the automobile may never again be located by police; and (3) police have obtained this information in such a way that they could not have secured a warrant for the search, i.e., there are exigent circumstances.

This court addressed the "automobile exception" in Commonwealth v. Ionata, 518 Pa. 472, 544 A.2d 917 (1988), where police applied for and received a search warrant for the person and the apartment of Ionata based on information that he was involved in the drug business and that drugs were hidden in the hood compartment of his car. In Ionata, as in this case, police did not request a warrant for the search of the suspect's automobile. Nonetheless, when Ionata drove up to his apartment, police removed him from the car and searched the car, finding illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia. At that point, Ionata was placed under arrest. The Commonwealth argued that because there was probable cause to have obtained a search warrant for the automobile, the search was permissible even though no warrant had been obtained. A three-member plurality of this court disagreed:

While certain...