Commonwealth v. Bable
| Decision Date | 16 April 1981 |
| Citation | 428 A.2d 643,286 Pa.Super. 203 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, v. Kenneth BABLE, Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Submitted Nov. 14, 1980.
David Metinko, Pittsburgh, for appellant.
Robert L. Eberhardt, Deputy Dist. Atty., Pittsburgh, for Commonwealth, appellee.
Before PRICE DiSALLE and MONTEMURO, JJ.
This is a direct appeal from judgment of sentence imposed by a judge sitting without a jury, for Receiving Stolen Property [1] Fraudulent Use or Removal of a Registration Plate from a Vehicle, [2] Unauthorized Use of Registration Plates, [3] Operating a Vehicle With an Expired License Plate, [4] and Operating a Vehicle Without a Driver's License. [5] Post-Trial motions were denied and appellant, Kenneth Bable, was sentenced to a term of not less than one and a half (11/2) or more than three (3) years imprisonment.
Appellant contends that the trial court erred (1) by failing to suppress certain evidence based on an absence of probable cause to support the issuance of a warrant to search appellant's car, and (2) by failing also to find that probable cause did not exist to arrest appellant after he had been stopped for a traffic violation. We find no merit in appellant's contentions and affirm the sentence of the trial court.
The essential facts involved in this case are as follows:
On April 16, 1978, appellant was stopped for driving a vehicle with an expired license plate. Appellant was unable to produce a driver's license, registration card, or no-fault insurance card. The officer who had stopped appellant, recognized him as being a convicted burglar, noticed that he seemed quite nervous, and saw three radios, two knives and two screwdrivers lying on the floor of the car. A routine check of the license plate indicated ownership by a person other than appellant. This fact led to a check of the serial number of the vehicle, which produced a name other than either that of appellant or that of the owner of the license plate. A check was then run on appellant himself, who had said that his "cards" were at home. Information was received indicating that appellant was not licensed to drive and that he was wanted in Pittsburgh for a parole violation. Appellant was arrested and the car impounded. The arresting officer went before a magistrate, recited the above facts, and obtained a warrant to search appellant's car, which in turn led to the discovery of stolen property in the trunk of said vehicle.
The essence of appellant's claim is that the search warrant was improvidently granted on the basis that there did not exist sufficient probable cause to justify issuing the search warrant. In addition, appellant claims that his warrantless arrest was also invalid. While we do not agree with this latter contention, we need not reach this point on its merits. First, the evidence complained of on appeal was not the fruit of the arrest itself, but instead was the result of the allegedly defective search warrant. As the appellant himself contends, the search stands or falls on the validity of the search warrant. Second, it is well-settled that an illegal arrest is not a bar to (nor does it void) a subsequent prosecution and conviction. Commonwealth v. Kazior, 269 Pa.Super. 518, 410 A.2d 822, 823 (1979). See also Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 119, 95 S.Ct. 854, 865, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975) and Commonwealth v. Krall, 452 Pa. 215, 219, 304 A.2d 488, 490 (1973).
Turning to appellant's main contention, that probable cause did not exist for the search warrant in the instant case, we find no merit in appellant's supporting arguments. First, appellant argues that the circumstances surrounding the lack of papers justify summary citations only and not the raising of suspicion sufficient to infer probable cause. Common sense would dictate that such thorough complications are rare, and rarer still do they turn out to be the result of a completely innocent mistake; we agree with the appellee's contention that this factor alone was highly indicative of criminal behavior, such as auto theft or unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Second, appellant contends that it was illogical for the arresting officer to assume that a crime had taken place merely because appellant was known to him as a man with a record. The policeman did not assume, however, that a crime had been committed solely on the basis of appellant's prior record. It is quite clear that the officer was permitted to take appellant's past criminal record into account as one factor in a determination of probable cause. See, e. g., Commonwealth v. Gullett, 459 Pa. 431, 329 A.2d 513, 517-518 (1974), based on U. S. v. Harris, 403 U.S. 573, 583, 91 S.Ct. 2075, 2081, 29 L.Ed.2d 723 (1971).
Appellant's third contention relates to the three radios observed on the floor of the back seat of the vehicle. Appellant asserts that the officer had no reason to believe that they were stolen especially since the officer had not received any information concerning a robbery that day. This contention is completely without merit. Officers are not restricted to violations within their knowledge when obtaining search warrants. Commonwealth v. Griffin, 200 Pa.Super. 34, 38, 186 A.2d 656, 658 (1963). In addition, it has been held that even an innocuous brown bag can be the subject of a proper inference of probable cause when viewed in light of a prior record which is of such a nature as to raise suspicion. Commonwealth v. Anderson, 208 Pa.Super. 323, 326, 222 A.2d...
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