Commonwealth v. Czajkowski
Commonwealth v. Czajkowski
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Defendant has appealed from a conviction and sentence on a charge of burglary. The conviction rested in part on circumstantial evidence which showed that defendant’s car was observed at the scene of the crime.
Appellant made no preliminary motion. He first objected to the evidence allegedly obtained through an unreasonable search and seizure when offered by the Commonwealth at the trial. The decision in Mapp v. Ohio, supra, 367 U. S. 643, 81 S. Ct. 1684, 6 L. Ed. 2d 1081, holds only that evidence obtained as the result of an unreasonable search and seizure cannot be used as the basis for conviction in a state court. The Mapp case does not purport to prescribe the procedure by which the legality of evidence obtained through search and seizure can be raised. The Supreme Court of the United States has expressly stated it is incumbent upon the states to establish their own procedure in civil and criminal matters consistent with due process. “The Constitution commands the States to assure fair judgment. Procedural details for securing fairness it leaves to the States.” Carter v. Illinois, 329 U. S. 173, 175, 67 S. Ct. 216, 91 L. Ed. 172, 175. See Kariher’s Petition (No. 1), 284 Pa. 455, 470, 131 A. 265; Eiffert v. Pennsylvania Central Brewing Company, 141 Pa. Superior Ct. 543, 549, 15 A. 2d 723.
It is clear that objection to evidence allegedly illegal as having been obtained through an unreasonable
Whether a search and seizure were, or were not, unreasonable, must be determined from the circumstances in each particular case. Com. v. Hunsinger, 89 Pa. Superior Ct. 238, 241; Com. v. Dugan, 143 Pa. Superior Ct. 383, 386, 18 A. 2d 84; United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 63, 70 S. Ct. 430, 94 L. Ed. 653; Com. v. Richards, 198 Pa. Superior Ct. 39, 180 A. 2d 430. The undisputed evidence produced at the trial by the Commonwealth established the following facts: Albert’s Department Store on Eoute 8, Shaler Township, Allegheny County, was burglarized on Saturday night, January 9, or early Sunday morning, January 10, 1960, and about $1,150 in cash and miscellaneous items were stolen. A police officer patrolling the vicinity observed a green Oldsmobile in a peculiar position on the parking lot of a tavern located about 100 yards south of the department store. The Oldsmobile was empty and parked at the curb facing the highway some distance from the tavern. This was about 12:30 a.m. Eeturn
An officer may arrest without a warrant where he has probable cause and reasonable grounds to suspect defendant has committed a felony. Com. ex rel. Bandi v. Ashe, 367 Pa. 234, 238, 80 A. 2d 62; Com. ex rel. Miller v. Myers, 187 Pa. Superior Ct. 565, 568, 146 A. 2d 145; Draper v. United States, 358 U. S. 307, 79 S. Ct. 329, 3 L. Ed. 2d 327. Under the circumstances observed by the police, including the presence of appellant’s car at the scene and time of the robbery, the officers clearly had probable cause and reasonable grounds to arrest appellant without a warrant.
In the instant case, where the people in appellant’s car and their actions were observed at the time and place the burglary occurred, the police had probable cause and reasonable grounds to arrest appellant and search his car. Appellant contends that the police had opportunity to obtain a search warrant. We think that the search of the car at the police station turned upon its reasonableness and propriety under the circumstances rather than upon the practicability of procuring a search warrant. The evidence objected to was not obtained as the result of an unreasonable search and seizure. Cf. Com. v. Richards, 198 Pa. Superior Ct. 39, 182 A. 2d 291; Com. v. Bosurgi, 198 Pa. Superior Ct. 47, 182 A. 2d 295. The court was correct in refusing to exclude such evidence and in refusing appellant’s post trial motions based on this ground.
Cf. Application of Bogish, 69 N. J. Super. 146, 173 A. 2d 906, 909.
Dissenting Opinion
Dissenting Opinion by
I would reverse and award a new trial. This is another effort by the Pennsylvania Courts to avoid the plain implication of the law as to illegal search and seizure as laid down in Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U. S. 643, 6 L. Ed. 2d 1081. True, the trial in this case was held two weeks before the announcement of this decision but the proper constitutional objections were raised to the introduction of the evidence alleged to be illegally obtained and the court below discussed the Mapp case in disposing of the defendant’s post trial motions.
Much has been made of the contention that a different standard of reasonableness applies in the search of an automobile on the ground that it can be quickly moved out of the jurisdiction. But as the defendant contends “It cannot be seriously argued that the facts of this case are analogous to those cases where the requirements of ‘reasonableness’ in arrest or warrant were relaxed. The rule of Flores v. U. S., supra (234 F. 2d 604), and Carroll v. U. S., supra (267 U. S. 153), is one of practicality to be applied in situations where the vehicle might be moved out of the jurisdiction Avliile a warrant was being procured. Is the instant case such a case? There was no fleeing felon•—no police in hot pursuit. On the contrary, the police knew the identity of the appellant twenty-four (24) hours before they went to his home and placed him in a cell, before they carried on their search of his car. Under the circumstances, the possibility of the appellant’s spiriting
Most certainly the niceties of procedure should not be used to deprive a citizen of the United States of the protection afforded him by the Constitution of the United States. “. . . rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment are indispensable to the full enjoyment of personal security, personal liberty and private property. They are to be regarded as the, ‘. . . very essence of Constitutional liberty . . .’. It has been repeatedly decided that those Amendments should receive liberal construction, so as to prevent stealthy encroachment upon or gradual depreciation of the rights secured by them, by the imperceptible practice of courts or by well intentioned but mistakenly overzealous officers.” Gouled v. U. S., 255 U. S. 298, 65 L. Ed. 647, 41 S. Ct. 261.
The Supreme Court, in the Gouled case further said, “We think rather that it is a rule to be used to secure the ends of justice under the circumstances presented by each case, ... A rule of practice must not be allowed for any technical reason to prevail over a constitutional right.”
I find it difficult to follow the reasoning of the court that would require the defendant to remain incarcerated and bring a petition of habeas corpus to raise the question or seek by other means prior to trial to secure the return of the questioned evidence, when such determination at best would constitute interlocutory, unappealable orders and would entail interminable and unconscionable delay. While the objections or motions made during the trial, at the time of the presentation of the evidence, which in many cases will be the first knowledge the defendant has of its possession by the Commonwealth, is simple and direct and the issue can be promptly determined.
Reference
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- Commonwealth v. Czajkowski, Appellant
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