Commonwealth v. Ayala

• Decision Date: 06 February 2002
• Citation: 791 A.2d 1202
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Hector Luis AYALA, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

791 A.2d 1202

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Hector Luis AYALA, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted September 24, 2001.

Filed February 6, 2002.

Thomas B. Sponaugle, York, for appellant.

James M. Reeder, Asst. Dist. Atty., York, for Com., appellee.

BEFORE: DEL SOLE, President Judge, JOHNSON, J., and CERCONE, President Judge Emeritus.

OPINION PER CURIAM:

¶ 1 Appellant, Hector Luis Ayala, appeals from his judgment of sentence entered following his conviction for possession of a controlled substance (cocaine).¹ After review, we vacate the judgment of sentence and remand for a new trial.

¶ 2 The facts of the case, which are not in dispute, as they have been gleaned from the trial court's opinion and the certified record in this matter are as follows: On July 14, 2000, at 7:56 a.m. in the City of York, Officer Blymire of the York City Police Department received a call from his dispatcher which related that an anonymous individual, who identified himself as a resident of 39 East College Avenue, had telephoned and indicated that there were two Hispanic men, one of whom was carrying a handgun, in a red Honda coupe parked in front of 39 East College Avenue. N.T. Suppression Hearing, 11/27/2000, at 6, 14. The anonymous caller had specifically stated that the driver of the car was the man holding or possessing the gun. The caller described this individual as a Hispanic male wearing a white t-shirt, glasses and having a short haircut. Id. at 6, 16. The caller described the passenger of the Honda as a Hispanic male with bushy black hair, but the caller did not indicate that the passenger was in possession of a gun. Id. at 16. The caller also gave the license plate number of the red Honda. Id. at 7. The address of 39 East College Avenue was an apartment building "close to" the south side of York City. Id. at 6-7. Officer Blymire testified that the south side of York City was an area in which there was "a significant amount of drug activity." Id. at 6.

¶ 3 When Officer Blymire arrived at 39 East College Avenue, he observed a red Honda parked across the street from the apartment building. He testified that he approached the car from behind and observed that the license plate number matched the one reported by the anonymous caller. Id. at 7. Officer Blymire testified that he saw the Hispanic male, who matched the description of the individual alleged to be in possession of the handgun, standing next to the parked vehicle. Id. Officer Blymire did not see that individual in possession of a handgun. Id. at 9. The individual standing outside the vehicle looked at the officer and then ran across the street towards the apartment building located at 39 East College Avenue. Id. at 7. The passenger in the vehicle, later identified as Appellant, appeared to Officer Blymire to be Hispanic and appeared to have bushy black hair, thereby matching the description of the passenger provided by the anonymous caller. Id. Appellant remained seated in the vehicle as Officer Blymire drove by. Id. ¶ 4 Officer Blymire continued around the block and called for back-up officers to come to the scene. Id. at 8. When Officer Blymire came around the block the second time, the man who had been standing outside the vehicle was seen by Officer Blymire entering the apartment building located at 39 East College Avenue. Id. Appellant remained in a reclining position in the passenger seat. Id.

¶ 5 Three (3) other officers arrived on the scene and positioned themselves outside of the apartment building across the street. As Officer Blymire approached the red Honda, Appellant did not move from his reclining position in the vehicle. Id. at 9, 17. Officer Blymire testified that at that point he felt that Appellant "could have been a possible threat to [the police officers'] safety or an unknown [threat]." Id. at 9. Officer Blymire instructed Appellant to step out of the vehicle, and Appellant complied. Officer Blymire then patted down Appellant. Officer Blymire felt a cylindrical canister in Appellant's right front pocket, and Officer Blymire opined that, based upon his training and experience, this type of canister was typically used for illegal drugs. Id. at 10. Office Blymire then asked Appellant what the object was. Appellant stated it was bubble gum. Id. Officer Blymire asked if he could look inside the canister, and Appellant consented. Id. Inside the canister were two bags that each contained a small "white chunky rock substance." Id. Appellant was arrested and given his Miranda² warnings. The substance found in the canister was later field-tested positive for cocaine.

¶ 6 Appellant was formally arraigned in the York County Court of Common Pleas on October 20, 2000. On October 25, 2000, Appellant filed a Suppression Motion to suppress the cocaine seized. A Suppression Hearing was held before the Honorable John S. Kennedy on November 27, 2000. Judge Kennedy denied the motion the same day, and a bench trial was held immediately following the Suppression Hearing. Judge Kennedy found Appellant guilty of possession of cocaine. On April 30, 2001, Appellant was sentenced to time served to twelve (12) months, plus costs. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court on May 4, 2001. Judge Kennedy ordered Appellant to file a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.1925(b), and Appellant complied. This timely appeal followed.

¶ 7 Appellant raises a single issue for this Court to review on appeal:

Did the Trial Court err in denying Appellant's Motion to Suppress cocaine where an anonymous source, who had not provided police with trustworthy information in the past, provided information that Appellant was sitting as a passenger in a car next to a driver who had a gun was stopped, detained, and patted down, at which time the police found a canister consistent with drug paraphernalia, requested consent to search, search was granted by Appellant, and cocaine was found in the canister.

Appellant's Brief at 2.

¶ 8 Appellant argues that he was subjected to an unlawful detention since the police did not have reasonable and articulable suspicion of his involvement in criminal activity to subject him to an investigative detention, nor a reasonable and articulable suspicion that he was armed and dangerous to justify the pat down search of his person. Appellant additionally contends that his consent to search the canister recovered from his pocket during the pat down search was the tainted product of his unlawful detention. He therefore asserts that the Trial Court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence that was recovered from the canister. After careful review of the factual circumstances and governing law, we conclude that Appellant is correct.

¶ 9 Our standard of review for an appeal from a denial of a motion to suppress is as follows:

In an appeal from the denial of a motion to suppress, our role is to determine whether the record supports the suppression court's factual findings and the legitimacy of the inferences and legal conclusions drawn from those findings. In making this determination, we may consider only the evidence of the prosecution's witnesses and so much of the defense as, fairly read in the context of the record as a whole, remains uncontradicted. When the evidence supports the factual findings of the suppression court, we may reverse only if there is an error in the legal conclusions drawn from those factual findings. As a reviewing court, we are therefore not bound by the legal conclusions of the suppression court and must reverse that court's determination if the conclusions are in error or the law is misapplied.

Commonwealth v. Turner, 772 A.2d 970, 972-973 (Pa.Super.2001) (en banc).

¶ 10 "Both the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1 Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution protect citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures." Commonwealth v. Cook, 558 Pa. 50, 53, 735 A.2d 673, 674 (1999). The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

U.S. Const.Amend. IV. The Pennsylvania Constitution provides:

The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things shall issue without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation subscribed to by the affiant.

Pa. Const. Art. I, § 8. Warrantless searches and seizures are therefore unreasonable per se, unless conducted pursuant to a specifically established and well-delineated exception to the warrant requirement. In the Interest of N.L., 739 A.2d 564, 566 (Pa.Super.1999), appeal denied, 562 Pa. 672, 753 A.2d 819 (2000) (citing Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967)).

¶ 11 As our Court has further reminded:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has been vigilant in the protection of the right to privacy guaranteed by Article I, Section 8 of our state Constitution. On repeated occasions, the Court has admonished that:

The seriousness of criminal activity under investigation, whether it is the sale of drugs or the commission of a violent crime, can never be used as justification for ignoring or abandoning the constitutional right of every individual in this Commonwealth to be free from intrusions upon his or her personal liberty absent probable case.

Commonwealth v. Polo, , 759 A.2d 372, [376] (quoting Commonwealth v. Matos, 543 Pa. 449, 672 A.2d 769, 775-76 (1996)).

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