Commonwealth v. Ford
Decision Date | 14 November 2017 |
Docket Number | No. 196 EDA 2016,196 EDA 2016 |
Citation | 175 A.3d 985 |
Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Anthony FORD, Appellant |
Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Stanley R. Krakower, Philadelphia, for appellant.
Robert F. Petrone, Assistant District Attorney, Philadelphia, for Commonwealth, appellee.
Appellant, Anthony Ford, appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. Appellant claims the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the firearm seized from his home. He also argues that the trial court erred in finding the evidence sufficient to sustain his conviction for possession of a firearm with an altered manufacturer's number, because the manufacturer's number was merely obscured by corrosion, not by human hands.1 We affirm the trial court's order denying suppression, but we reverse Appellant's conviction for possession of a firearm with an altered manufacturer's number.
The trial court summarized the factual and procedural history as follows:
Trial Ct. Op., 9/13/16, at 1–2 (citations and footnote omitted). During trial, the parties stipulated that the serial number on the handgun was "obscured by corrosion [and] recovered by polishing." N.T., 10/20/15, at 88.
Appellant raises the following issues for our review:
Appellant's Brief at 2 (capitalization omitted).
Appellant first contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, because the gun found in his home was "the product of an unreasonable search and seizure." Id. at 5. He asserts the police officers lacked probable cause and exigent circumstances to justify a warrantless entry and search of his home. We disagree.
We review the denial of a motion to suppress as follows:
An appellate court's standard of review in addressing a challenge to the denial of a suppression motion is limited to determining whether the suppression court's factual findings are supported by the record and whether the legal conclusions drawn from those facts are correct. Because the Commonwealth prevailed before the suppression court, we may consider only the evidence of the Commonwealth and so much of the evidence for the defense as remains uncontradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole. Where the suppression court's factual findings are supported by the record, the appellate court is bound by those findings and may reverse only if the court's legal conclusions are erroneous. Where the appeal of the determination of the suppression court turns on allegations of legal error, the suppression court's legal conclusions are not binding on an appellate court, whose duty it is to determine if the suppression court properly applied the law to the facts. Thus, the conclusions of law of the courts below are subject to plenary review.
Commonwealth v. Jones , 121 A.3d 524, 526–27 (Pa. Super. 2015) ( ).
Commonwealth v. Roland , 535 Pa. 595, 637 A.2d 269, 270–71 (1994) ( ). Further, Commonwealth v. Chase , 394 Pa.Super. 168, 575 A.2d 574, 576 (1990) ( ).
Exigent circumstances exist where "the police reasonably believe that someone within a residence is in need of immediate aid." Commonwealth v. Galvin , 603 Pa. 625, 985 A.2d 783, 795 (2009) (citations omitted). Additionally, "[i]t is widely recognized that situations involving the potential for imminent physical harm in the domestic context implicate exigencies that may justify limited police intrusion into a dwelling in order to remove an item of potential danger." Commonwealth v. Wright , 560 Pa. 34, 742 A.2d 661, 664 (1999) (citations omitted). The relevant inquiry is "whether there was an objectively reasonable basis for believing that medical assistance was needed, or persons were in danger[.]" Michigan v. Fisher , 558 U.S. 45, 49, 130 S.Ct. 546, 175 L.Ed.2d 410 (2009) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). "[T]he calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments—in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving." Ryburn v. Huff , 565 U.S. 469, 477, 132 S.Ct. 987, 181 L.Ed.2d 966 (2012) (citation omitted). Additionally, "it is a matter of common sense that a combination of events each of which is mundane when viewed in isolation may paint an alarming picture." Id. at 476–77, 132 S.Ct. 987.
In this case, exigent circumstances justified the officers' warrantless entry into Appellant's house. The evidence adduced during the suppression hearing demonstrates that on the evening in question, police officers received reports of someone screaming, someone bleeding, and someone with a gun at the Wilmot Street residence abutting Appellant's house. N.T., 10/20/15, at 12. Officer Biles, an eleven-year officer in this police district, described this as a "high crime area." Id. at 15. The officers did not find anything at the Wilmot Street address, but when they proceeded to Ditman Street, one neighbor pointed towards 4663 Ditman Street. Id. at 14–15. Another neighbor who lived next door to 4663 Ditman Street was standing in her doorway and appeared frightened, distraught and happy to see the officers. Id. at 15. Officer Biles asked the neighbor if she heard any gunshots, and she replied: "Not yet." Id. at 13. As the officers approached 4663 Ditman Street, they heard...
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