Commonwealth v. Korn

• Decision Date: 25 May 2016
• Docket Number: No. 1528 MDA 2015,1528 MDA 2015
• Citation: 2016 PA Super 109,139 A.3d 249
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant v. Jordan Elias KORN, Appellee.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

139 A.3d 249

2016 PA Super 109

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant

v.Jordan Elias KORN, Appellee.

No. 1528 MDA 2015

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted Feb. 29, 2016.

Filed May 25, 2016.

Stacy P. Miller, District Attorney, Bellefonte and Jessica H. Lathrop, Assistant District Attorney, Bellefonte, for Commonwealth, appellant.

Jason S. Dunkle, State College, for appellee.

BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., DUBOW, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.^*

OPINION BY STEVENS

, P.J.E.:

The Commonwealth appeals from the order entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County granting the suppression motion filed by Appellee, Jordan Elias Korn. After careful review, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

On February 26, 2015, Appellee was arrested and charged with simple possession and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.¹ On May 22, 2015, Appellee filed a motion to suppress physical evidence obtained from the search of his bedroom in Apartment 201, located at The Phoenix Apartment Complex, in State College Boro, Centre County.

A suppression hearing commenced on July 13, 2015, at which the Commonwealth presented the sole witness, Trooper Eric Guido of the Pennsylvania State Police. Trooper Guido testified that toward the end of February of 2015, he was conducting an investigation regarding the sale of controlled substances out of an apartment at 501 East Beaver Avenue in State College. N.T., 7/13/15, at 6. According to the trooper, the investigation began after a Confidential Informant advised him that he had purchased Xanax pills from Aaron Murray. Id. at 7. Subsequently, Trooper Guido and the Confidential Informant made two controlled buys of Xanax from Mr. Murray, the first of which occurred in Mr. Murray's bedroom in Apartment 201. Id. at 8–12.

Based on evidence seized during these drug buys, Trooper Guido applied for a search warrant for the entire apartment. When asked why he would seek to search the entire apartment, when the first drug buy occurred only in a bedroom, Trooper Guido replied:

A. Because you never know where things could be hidden or secreted. Sometimes people—many times we do a search warrant, people will say well, I'll just take you to where things are and, you know, [they are] willing to give up a little bit to save a lot. So, you always have to make sure you thoroughly check for everything.

Id. at 14.

The description of the property to be searched by the warrant was listed as “The Phoenix Apartment Complex, 501 East Beaver Ave, Apt # 201 located in State College Boro, Centre County.” See id.; Com. Exhibit 1. According to Trooper Guido, the owner, occupant or possessor of this apartment was listed as “Aaron Murray,” because the Confidential Informant told him that Mr. Murray “was the only one that was supposed to be living there.” Id. at 16.

Trooper Guido further testified that the search warrant was executed shortly after it was obtained at approximately 10:55 a.m. on February 26, 2015. N.T., 7/13/15, at 15. The trooper stated that prior to the search, he contacted the building manager who informed him that if no one answered the apartment door, he would send a maintenance person so that the police would not have to break down the door. Id. at 17. Trooper Guido then stated they entered a side door which led to Apartment 201, and Mr. Murray answered their knock on the door. Id.

Upon entering the apartment, Trooper Guido stayed with Mr. Murray, while two other troopers checked the apartment for other occupants. At that time, Trooper Guido could hear knocking on a door at the end of a hallway and repeated saying, “Come out of the room, state police, we have a search warrant, get out of the room.” Id. at 18. According to the trooper, after about five minutes, Appellee opened the bedroom door, and “wanted to know what was going on.” Id. at 19. When he was advised about the reasons for the troopers' presence, Appellee asked to see a copy of the search warrant, and the troopers complied. Id. At that time, another trooper searched Appellee's person and found several Xanax pills. Id. at 19–20. Ultimately, both Mr. Murray and Appellee were placed in the living room of the apartment.

Trooper Guido testified that the search of the apartment began in the bedroom that had been occupied by Appellee. According to the trooper, Appellee's bedroom door was not marked in any way to distinguish it from the other bedroom. Id. at 21. Trooper Guido did not recall a dead bolt or key lock on the door but testified the door was locked when first approached by the other troopers. N.T., 7/13/15, at 21. Upon searching the bedroom, Trooper Guido noticed a “safety deposit-type box on a desk.” Id. at 22. After finding a key in a backpack in the room, another officer unlocked the box. Id. at 23. Inside the box, the troopers found three vacuum-sealed bags containing approximately 7000–8000 white pills, and approximately $5,000 in cash. Id. at 25. Various drug packaging and a scale, as well as a safety deposit key, were also found inside the bedroom. A subsequent search warrant was issued for the corresponding safety deposit box, which was rented by Appellee, and approximately $12,000 in cash was found inside. Id. at 28.

Describing the bedroom further, Trooper Guido repeated that he did not recall a dead bolt or key lock, and the bedroom did not have a separate apartment number, mailbox, or entrance. Id. at 26. According to the trooper, “[it] was a typical college apartment that [he was] used to executing search warrants on, common area, two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen.” Id.

Upon cross-examination, Trooper Guido conceded that, when speaking with the building manager, he did not ask who resided in Apartment 201. Id. at 30. He also testified that, upon entering the apartment to conduct the first controlled buy, he noticed a door at the end of the hallway, but only learned it was a second bedroom that was shared by Appellee and a second roommate when subsequently executing the search warrant. Id. at 31. Trooper Guido further acknowledged that he did not know where the mailboxes for any unit within the apartment complex were located. N.T., 7/13/15, at 34. Finally, Trooper Guido testified that prior to the execution of the search warrant he was unaware that Appellee resided in Apartment 201. Id.

Based on Trooper Guido's suppression hearing testimony, the trial court granted Appellee's suppression motion:

This Court finds that Apartment 201 of the Phoenix building contains more than one living unit, as it contains separate living quarters for each of the individuals who reside there. The search warrant in the instant case was obtained in order to investigate Aaron Murray's illegal activities. In fact, the warrant specifically states “The Phoenix Apartment Complex, 501 East Beaver Ave, Apt # 201 located in State College Boro, Centre County,” with the name of the owner/occupant listed as Aaron Murray.” Despite the fact that Apartment 201 contains multiple living units, the warrant fails to describe the particular living unit that was to be searched so as to ensure the other living units, for which no probable cause existed, were not searched. The Court finds that the language of the warrant is sufficient to permit a search of Murray's room and any common areas. Magisterial District Justice [sic] [Carmine W.] Prestia had a substantial basis from the warrant application to believe that probable cause existed as it relates to Murray and his activities. However, the search of [Appellee's] room was improper and outside the scope of the probable cause used to obtain the search warrant. The officers had no knowledge of [Appellee's] existence and obtained the warrant solely on the basis of the interactions with Murray in his own room and in a vehicle outside the apartment. Furthermore, at the time the warrant was executed, the door to [Appellee's] room was locked, indicating that Murray could not have exercised dominion or control over the items in [Appellee's] room. As such, [Appellee's] Motion to Quash Search Warrant and Suppress Evidence is GRANTED, and all evidence obtained from [Appellee's] bedroom must be suppressed.

Opinion and Order, 8/18/15, at 4.

The Commonwealth filed a timely appeal. Within its notice of appeal, the Commonwealth certified that the suppression court's order would terminate or substantially handicap the prosecution of Appellee. See Pa.R.A.P. 311(d)

(permitting Commonwealth appeal from an interlocutory order if it certifies that the order will terminate or substantially handicap the prosecution). On September 30, 2015, the Commonwealth filed its Pa.R.A.P.1925(b) statement of errors complained of on appeal. On October 1, 2015, the trial court filed an opinion in response, in which the court “respectively maintains that its Opinion and Order of August 18, 2015 was correctly entered, the reasons for which were adequately addressed therein.” Opinion, 10/1/15, at 1.

On appeal, the Commonwealth presents the following issue for our review:

1. Did the [trial] court err as a matter of law in granting [Appellee's] Motion to Suppress when the search of [Appellee's] room was constitutionally valid as part of the single-unit residence identified on the search warrant?

Commonwealth's Brief at 4. In support of its claim of error, the Commonwealth further asserts:

In this incident, Trooper Guido had probable cause to search Aaron Murray's bedroom which was developed through two controlled buys. Based on this probable cause, he obtained a search warrant which sufficiently identified the area to be searched. Because [Appellee's] bedroom was part of the single-unit apartment, Trooper Guido was not obligated to obtain a separate warrant or develop probable cause independent of that already established in order to justify searching it.

Commonwealth's Brief at 10. We agree.

Our standard of review in addressing a challenge to the suppression court's granting of a suppression motion is well settled.

When the Commonwealth appeals from a suppression

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