Commonwealth v. Griffin
| Decision Date | 01 July 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 1614 MDA 2010,1614 MDA 2010 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Appellee v. DANIEL S. GRIFFIN, Appellant |
| Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Appellant, Daniel S. Griffin, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered on August 25, 2010, in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County. After careful review, we affirm.
The record in the case sub judice reveals that on May 7, 2009, Officer Russell Walbert of the Fleetwood Borough Police Department in Berks County, Pennsylvania, was on duty patrolling Fleetwood Borough and Richmond Township. See, N.T., Suppression Hearing and Bench Trial, 1/19/10, at 4. On patrol, Officer Walbert observed a charcoal gray vehicle which appeared "to be an unmarked police car...traveling along Crystal Cave Road." Id., at 5. As the vehicle came toward Officer Walbert, he observed the word "police on the front license plate." Id. Then, as the vehicle passed him, Officer Walbert noticed "some type of tinting in the windows." Id. "Thevehicle also had 'canine' in red stickers on the rear end of the vehicle" as well as a "police interceptor insignia that Ford puts on their Crown Vic police interceptor models." Id. According to Officer Walbert, he followed the vehicle for approximately three to four miles "due to its speed." Id. He observed the vehicle to be "travelling between 55 and 60 miles an hour in a 35 mile per hour zone" after which point he initiated a traffic stop. Id.
Officer Walbert testified that the occupant of the vehicle then "jumped out of the vehicle waiving a badge and badge wallet" after which Officer Walbert ordered him back into the vehicle. Id. When Officer Walbert approached the vehicle, Griffin made it a point to let him know he was a police officer after which Officer Walbert asked him for his license, registration, insurance and credentials. Id., at 6. Griffin gave Officer Walbert his driver's license and showed him the badge from the inside of the car; however, he would not hand his badge to Officer Walbert. Id. According to Officer Walbert, Griffin then fumbled through various items in the badge wallet and in a black fanny packet, which he retrieved from the center console of the vehicle. Id. Griffin eventually presented Officer Walbert "with a 1997 expired MPOETC card." Id.
Officer Walbert decided to investigate Griffin's employment status as a police officer based upon what he believed to be inconsistencies in Griffin's statements during the stop. Id., at 6-7. Griffin had "mentioned various things going from being on disability to retired to a plain-clothes detectiveand a canine officer" which prompted Officer Walbert to discuss the matter with his chief. Id., at 7. The chief authorized Officer Walbert to contact the Kingston Police Department. Id. Officer Walbert received a telephone call from Chief Keiper of the Kingston Police Department who indicated that Griffin was no longer employed there as a police officer. Id., at 7-8. Based upon the information received from the Kingston Police Department, which included a letter of termination and request for return of Griffin's official police badge, coupled with Officer Walbert's observations, he elected to contact the District Attorney's office for advice. Id., at 8.
Approximately one week later, Officer Walbert filed charges against Griffin at Magisterial District Judge Greth's Officer in Fleetwood, Berks County, for impersonating a public servant. Id., at 8. An arrest warrant was subsequently issued and "put into NCIC and CLEAN" after which Officer Walbert notified the Kingston Police Department. Id., at 8-9.
On May 13, 2009, Officer Douglas Wolfe of the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department was on duty when he received information that Griffin, who was wanted on a warrant, was present at a specific location. Id., at 14-15. Additional officers went to the described location in search of Griffin and Officer Wolfe was instructed to look in the area for Griffin's vehicle "in case they could not locate him, and he may possibly return to his vehicle". Id., at 15. Officer Wolfe located Griffin's vehicle, "in a parking lot on Northampton Street directly across from the YMCA" and ran the registration plate toconfirm ownership. Id. According to Officer Wolfe he "waited by the vehicle" until he "learned through radio contact that [Griffin] had been taken into custody" after which he radioed his commanding officer as to whether anything needed to be done with the vehicle. Id. Police headquarters contacted the Fleetwood Police Department, who requested that the vehicle be towed because they were going to obtain a search warrant on the vehicle. Id., at 15-16. As a result, Griffin's vehicle was towed from the public lot to a secured facility at the Wilkes-Barre Police Department. Id., at 16.
In the interim, Detective Robert Simonetti of the Wilkes-Barre Police Department received notification from his captain that Griffin had been arrested on a warrant out of Berks County on charges filed by Officer Walbert for impersonating a public servant and false identification to authorities. Id., at 20. Further, Detective Simonetti was informed that Griffin's vehicle had been located in a public parking lot and towed, following Griffin's arrest, to police headquarters. Id. Officer Walbert, in conjunction with the Berks County District Attorney's Office, requested that the Wilkes-Barre Police Department procure a search warrant for the vehicle to look for "evidence to support those charges." Id. Upon receipt of the pertinent information and arrest warrant from the Fleetwood Borough Police Department, Detective Simonetti consulted with the Luzerne County District Attorney's office, which approved the request for a search warrant application. Id., at 21. Detective Simonetti testified that he prepared thesearch warrant for the vehicle "mostly on Officer Walbert's affidavit along with the fact that our department had arrested Mr. Griffin and his vehicle had been towed to headquarters." Id. A search warrant was subsequently issued for Griffin's 2003 Ford Crown Victoria, bearing Pennsylvania registration RR50E0. Id., at 21-22. The warrant listed the specific items subject to the search as "police identification, police cards, police paperwork, police officer badges, detective badges, firearms, ammunitions, and magazines for firearms." Id., at 22.
Detective Simonetti, along with Officer Walbert of the Fleetwood Borough Police Department, conducted a search of Griffin's vehicle, which was being housed in the basement of the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department. Id., at 23. The vehicle looked:
[L]ike an unmarked police vehicle. There [were] numerous things on it that made it look like a police vehicle, police interceptor sign on the front. There was a jacket hanging in the back window that said police on it. There was a red light on top of the roof. It looked like—there was a time when most police vehicles, just about anywhere, were Crown Victorias. It was a Crown Vic. It looked like an unmarked police car.
Id., at 23-24. A search of Griffin's vehicle uncovered several items that may be utilized to impersonate a police officer including: a gold Kingston PD badge, detective business cards, officer business cards, a taser, flex ties, a black club, MPOETC cards, drug task force identification card, canister of OC spray, and a Raven .25 caliber ACP Pistol serial number: 1342085 with six (6) rounds of ammunition and a live round located in the chamber of thefirearm. Id., at 24. The gun and the identification cards were located inside of a holster within a fanny pack in the center console of Griffin's vehicle. A check with the Luzerne County Sheriff's Department revealed that Griffin did not have a valid license to carry a concealed weapon. Id., at 25. Griffin was subsequently charged on May 26, 2009, in Luzerne County, with firearms not to be carried without a license in violation of 18 Pa.Cons.Stat.Ann. §6106(a)(1). Id.
Griffin filed a motion to suppress which was subsequently denied following a hearing by the trial court on January 19, 2010. Griffin was later found guilty of the charge of firearms not to be carried without a license on February 8, 2010. This timely appeal followed.
On appeal, Griffin raises the following issues for our review:
Our standard of review of a suppression court's denial of a motion to suppress is well settled:
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 theprosecution's witnesses and so much of the defense as, fairly read in the context of the record as a whole, remains uncontradicted. When the factual findings of the suppression court are supported by the evidence, we may reverse only if there is an error in the legal conclusions drawn from those factual findings.
Commonwealth v. Lohr, 715 A.2d 459, 461 (Pa. Super. 1998) (quoting Commonwealth v. Carlson, 705 A.2d 468, 469 (Pa. Super. 1998)).
Griffin's first argument is, essentially, that the impoundment of his vehicle by the Wilkes-Barre Police Department and transportation to its headquarters prior to the issuance of a search warrant was a warrantless seizure in violation of his constitutional guarantees...
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