Commonwealth v. Dobbins
Commonwealth v. Dobbins
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
For the fifth time in the past fifteen years, this Court is called upon to clarify the breadth of county sheriffs’
I.
Because this Opinion effectively adds a new link to a well-defined chain of cases considering sheriffs’ law enforcement authority, and because the courts below and the parties now before us argue substantially from our earlier decisions, it is both beneficial and necessary to review these cases before recounting this case’s procedural history.
In Leet we considered “whether a deputy sheriff has authority ... to make a warrantless arrest for motor vehicle violations committed in his presence.” 641 A.2d at 300. In that case, a deputy sheriff driving a marked sheriffs vehicle ob
On the Commonwealth’s appeal to this Court, we rejected the lower courts’ determinations that the Vehicle Code’s pervasive references to “police officers” necessarily precluded deputy sheriffs from enforcing the code, turning instead to the common law to determine sheriffs’ authority under these circumstances. We found in the historic evolution of the office in England and the United States an ongoing recognition of sheriffs’ authority to “make arrests without a warrant for felonies and for breaches of the peace committed in [their] presence.” Id. at 303 (citing Blackstone, 4 Commentaries on the Common Law 289). Characterizing the Vehicle Code violation that initially provoked defendant’s detention as a breach of the peace committed in the sheriffs presence, we determined that, absent an express statutory restriction on the sheriffs commonlaw authority to arrest for such a breach of the peace, the deputy sheriff in that case had not exceeded his authority in arresting defendant.
We granted allowance of appeal to address the deputy sheriffs authority to file a citation against defendant for a
Proceeding from this principle, we noted that Rule 410 granted authority to file a citation to a “law enforcement officer,” defined in Pa.R.Crim.P. 103 as “any person who is by law given the power to enforce the law when acting within the scope of that person’s employment.” Vie held that sheriffs “enforce the law,” Lockridge, 810 A.2d at 1196 (citing Leet, 641 A.2d at 301-02), and therefore are “law enforcement officers” for purposes of the Rules of Criminal Procedure. Thus, we determined that Pa.R.Crim.P. 410 authorized a sheriff to file a citation for a summary violation of the Vehicle Code, even when he did not personally observe the violation in question, and upheld the judgment of sentence.
Most recently, in Kopko v. Miller, 586 Pa. 170, 892 A.2d 766 (2006)(Kopko II ),
Thus, as we will develop more fully below, in the decisions preceding Kopko II, we resisted calls to curtail sheriffs’ law enforcement power by identifying a combination of common-law and rules-based spheres in which sheriffs are authorized to enforce the law. In Kopko II, however, faced with the prospect of sheriffs who sought training in the intrusive investigatory techniques authorized by the Wiretapping Act, we held that sheriffs’ authority, in the absence of legislative action to the contrary, was substantially narrower than that of municipal police officers.
II.
With this legal background in mind, we turn to the instant case. On July 10, 2008, Bradford County Sheriffs Deputies
Returning to the barn, deputies observed items consistent with methamphetamine manufacture, including tanks that could be used to contain anhydrous ammonia,
Based on their observations and the information provided by Officer McKee, deputies sought and obtained a search warrant from a district magistrate. They then returned to the property with one or more additional deputies and executed the warrant. Inside the barn, deputies recovered methamphetamine and substantial evidence of methamphetamine manufacture. They also encountered one Robert Jordan, who confirmed that methamphetamine had been manufactured in the barn and implicated Appellant in the criminal enterprise.
The next day, on July 11, 2003, Deputy Hart filed with the same district magistrate a criminal complaint against Appellant based solely on evidence recovered during the prior day’s search. The complaint asserted various violations of the
Prior to the commencement of trial, in a Supplemental Omnibus Motion, Appellant sought dismissal of the charges based upon his contention that sheriffs deputies lacked the authority independently to investigate and prosecute drug offenses. In support of this claim, Appellant cited the Commonwealth Court’s then-newly minted decision in Kopko I, 842 A.2d 1028, 1031 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2004)(Kopko I), aff'd, 586 Pa. 170, 892 A.2d 766 (2006)(Kopko II), in which that court had ruled that sheriffs are not “investigative or law enforcement officers]” for purposes of the Wiretapping Act because they lack authority “ ‘to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for’ the predicate offenses of the Act,” Kopko I, 842 A.2d at 1039, including offenses under the Controlled Substance Act. See 18 Pa.C.S. § 5708(4). Appellant contended that in Kopko I, the Commonwealth correctly confined Leet narrowly to its circumstances, the commission of a breach of the peace in a sheriffs presence, and correctly ruled that Leet, in itself, vested sheriffs with no investigatory authority beyond that circumstance. The trial court denied Appellant’s pre-trial motions, finding Kopko I distinguishable from the case at bar, for reasons explained below.
At the conclusion of the trial that followed, a jury convicted Petitioner for manufacturing methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, and attempt and conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. On July 28,
Although the trial court’s two rulings that sheriffs deputies acted within the scope of their authority in investigating and filing a criminal complaint against Appellant differed in their articulation, the substantive thrust of the court’s rationale for denying Appellant’s challenges lay in its determination that this case more closely resembled Lockridge than it did Leet or Kopko I. Distinguishing the instant case from the latter two cases, the court determined that the investigation conducted in this case “had prior judicial authorization” — i.e., the putative arrest warrant for April Harris, or, alternatively, the simple authority to enter the property to question her
On direct appeal to the Superior Court, Appellant challenged the trial court’s rulings that sheriffs deputies had such authority. A divided panel of the Superior Court, then-President Judge Del Sole dissenting, ruled that a sheriff, “when properly trained under the Municipal Police Education and Training Law (Act 120), [is a] law enforcement officer [ ] and as such [has] a broad common law power to enforce the law, including the ability to arrest for felony drug violations.” Dobbins, 880 A.2d at 691.
III.
Turning to the instant question concerning sheriffs’ authority to investigate and arrest for violations of the Controlled Substances Act,
In Kopko II, this Court considered the Commonwealth’s contention that sheriffs should be permitted to attend a four-day course providing training and certification in the utilization of wiretapping and electronic surveillance pursuant to the Wiretapping Act. The Pennsylvania State Police, tasked by that act with providing the relevant training,
Much as the Commonwealth argues and the Superior Court ruled in this case, the Commonwealth in Kopko II contended that Leet furnished the requisite authority by affirming sheriffs’ power to arrest for felonies unless restrained from doing so by statute. We unequivocally rejected this reading, however, emphasizing that, “although the Court in Leet and Kline recognized the common law authority of deputy sheriffs to make arrests, it did not discover any legislative authority empowering them to act as police officers.” Kopko II, 892 A.2d at 774 (quoting Kopko I, 842 A.2d at 1039)(emphasis added). Rather, we held that no precedent “authorizes sheriffs to investigate or arrest for any of the serious predicate offenses listed in the Wiretapping Act,” id., noting that the Wiretapping Act’s predicate offenses “involve neither breaches of the peace for which sight arrests may be made nor summary offenses for which citations may issue,” id., the specific situations addressed, respectively, by Leet and Lockridge. We implicitly recognized, however, that the legislature had the prerogative to cloak sheriffs with the authority in question, and indeed were the principal source of that authority. See 13 P.S. § 40 (“Constables, county detectives, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, waterways patrolmen and game protectors shall perform all those duties authorized or imposed on them by statute.”); Kopko II, 892 A.2d at 772 (quoting 13 P.S. § 40)(“The General Assembly has limited the powers and
Thus, we examined whether the Wiretapping Act or another statute authorized sheriffs “to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for the [act’s] predicate offenses.” Kopko II, 892 A.2d at 772 (quoting 18 Pa.C.S. § 5702). We contrasted the essentially ministerial powers recognized by our decisions in Leet and Lockridge and by 42 Pa.C.S. § 2921 with the serious constitutional intrusions authorized by the Wiretapping Act, noting that a statute in derogation of a constitutional right must be strictly construed. Id. (citing Boettger v. Miklich, 534 Pa. 581, 633 A.2d 1146 (1993)); cf. Commonwealth v. Hashem, 526 Pa. 199, 584 A.2d 1378, 1382 (1991) (“Where, in the wisdom of the legislature, such devices may be authorized, as in the [Wiretapping Act], that use will be strictly adhered to and jealously enforced; for the alternative, no privacy at all, is unthinkable.”). In light of these concerns, we held that “[u]nless the words of [Wiretapping Act] empower Sheriffs to perform electronic surveillance, this Court would violate the duty to construe the statute strictly were we to enlarge its terms to include Sheriffs.” Kopko II, 892 A.2d at 772.
Turning to the Wiretapping Act’s language, we found in 18 Pa.C.S. § 5708 that communications could be intercepted under the act “by the investigative or law enforcement officers or agency having responsibility for an investigation involving suspected criminal activities when such interception may provide evidence of the commission” of the predicate offenses. Kopko II, 892 A.2d at 772. Notably, 18 Pa.C.S. § 5702 listed among the predicate offenses any offense under the Controlled Substance Act. See id. at 768-69 (quoting 18 Pa.C.S. § 5708(4)). Observing the sanctity of Pennsylvania’s constitutional right to privacy, we emphasized that “[i]f the surveillance permitted by the Act is to meet the test of reasonableness, it is essential that at a minimum, all the requirements directed by the Legislature be met.” Id. at 773 (quoting Commonwealth v. Hashem, 526 Pa. 199, 584 A.2d 1378, 1382
In an effort to reconcile its position with this decision— which the parties did not have until they briefed this issue before this Court, see supra n. 5 — the Commonwealth reads our holding in Kopko II more narrowly than its express terms allow, and would have us restrict that ruling such that, even if sheriffs are not investigative or law enforcement officers for purposes of the Wiretapping Act, they are law enforcement officers for essentially any other purpose. Thus, the Commonwealth returns to the proposition that Leet extends investigative authority to all sheriffs who are trained comparably to municipal police officers that is as broad as the authority granted to those police officers, unless the legislature expressly limits that authority.
Nor does Lockridge govern to the contrary. In that case, we held only that the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure reposed authority in sheriffs to seek citations for summary offenses. Just as Leet vindicated little more than an arrest authority held by any citizen for felonies and breaches of the peace committed in the sheriffs presence, Lockridge plainly applied only to its limited context. This Court’s rule-making prerogatives do not extend to conferring substantial investigatory powers to sheriffs for crimes detailed in statutory provisions that fail to provide such authority. Moreover, any doubt about the breadth of our Lockridge decision was dispelled in Kopko II, which drew a clear line between sheriffs’ authority vis-á-vis summary offenses and with respect to the more invasive actions typically required to investigate violations of the Wiretapping Act’s serious predicate offenses.
The facts of this case clearly invoke concerns similar to those this Court expressed in Kopko II, insofar as sheriffs
Finally, we arrive at the question of remedy. As noted, supra n. 20, Appellant has consistently argued that the proper remedy in this circumstance is dismissal of the charges. Appellee and the trial court, however, have observed that the proper remedy where evidence has been discovered by an illegal search and/or incident to an illegal arrest is suppression, not dismissal. We agree. See Commonwealth v. Gibson, 536 Pa. 123, 638 A.2d 203, 205 (1994). Thus, the Superior Court’s opinion is vacated and the case remanded with direction to the Superior Court to remand to the trial court with direction to suppress all evidence discovered through the sheriff’s deputies’ illegal investigation, and to conduct further proceedings as necessary.
. In this Opinion and in the prior decisions discussed herein, county sheriffs are referred to variously as sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, sheriff's deputies, and deputies. We use these terms interchangeably to refer to officers with the relevant county sheriffs' offices, and the choice of one
. We qualified our ruling, however, by holding that the training requirements the legislature imposed on municipal police officers applied equally to sheriffs.
Policemen, to whom the legislature has given primary responsibility for enforcement of the motor vehicle code, are required by statute to undergo formal training prior to enforcing the law. * * * * Thus a sheriff or deputy sheriff would be required to complete the same type of training that is required of police officers throughout the Commonwealth.
Leet, 641 A.2d at 303 (footnote omitted). Finding the record inadequate to resolve the question of the arresting deputy sheriff's training, we remanded to determine whether he had completed “appropriate law enforcement training.” Id.
That training requirement came to the fore in Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp. v. Kline, 559 Pa. 646, 741 A.2d 1281 (2000), in which we considered whether a deputy sheriff, who had completed training as
. Pa.R.Crim.P. 410 provides, in relevant part, that “[wjhen it is not feasible to issue the citation to the defendant ..., a law enforcement officer shall institute a criminal proceeding in a summary case by filing a citation with the proper issuing authority.”
. See Pennsylvania Const. Art. V, § 10(c).
. The lower courts and the parties did not have the benefit of our decision in Kopko II until shortly before they filed their briefs with this Court, hence in the lower courts they argued from the Commonwealth Court decision that we affirmed in Kopko II. Because the lower courts
. See Act of October 4, 1978, Pub.L. 861, No. 124, § 2, as amended, 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 5701, etseq.
. Anhydrous ammonia is a methamphetamine precursor. Sheriff's deputies acknowledged that the same container could be used to contain propane.
. Act of April 14, 1972, Pub.L. 233, No. 64, as amended, 35 P.S. §§ 780-101, et seq.
. Specifically, for manufacturing methamphetamine, the trial court sentenced Appellant to pay a $300.00 fine and serve two to fifteen years’ imprisonment; for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, the court imposed a sentence of seventeen months' to seven years' imprisonment; and for possession with intent to deliver of methamphetamine, the court imposed a sentence of six months' to one year’s incarceration, sentences to run consecutively. On the fourth count of conviction, attempt to manufacture methamphetamine, the court imposed no sentence, ruling that it merged for sentencing purposes with the manufacturing charge. See Sentencing Order, 7/28/04.
. The trial court initially indicated that deputies entered the property "pursuant to a warrant they had for the arrest of April Harris.” PreTrial Mem. & Ord. at 6. Later, the court acknowledged that this statement was erroneous because deputies had no arrest warrant for Harris, and merely sought to question her, but found the distinction immaterial. Post-Sent. Mem. & Ord. at 1-2 ("[I]t actually does not matter whether the Deputies had a warrant to arrest April Harris.... They, at a minimum, wanted to speak to her and they went onto the premises to do so. Anyone could have done the same."). Because, in either event, we hold that the sheriff’s deputies lacked authority to seek a search warrant, the distinction does not bear on our decision.
. Pa.R.Crim.P. 103 defines “law enforcement officer” as “any person who is by law given the power to enforce the law when acting within the scope of that person's employment."
. Notably, although Deputy Burgert was affiant for the search warrant, Deputy Hart was affiant on the criminal complaint. The record does not indicate whether Deputy Hart had completed Act 120 training or its equivalent at the relevant time, a deficiency that might require a remand were we not to find that the investigation exceeded deputies’ authority on another basis. See Leet, 641 A.2d at 303 (remanding to determine whether sheriff had completed requisite training (i.e., “the same type of training that is required of police officers”) to enforce the Vehicle Code).
. In so ruling, the court notably omitted our language in Leet restricting sheriffs’ arrest authority to breaches of the peace and felonies committed in the sheriff's presence. Compare Leet, 641 A.2d at 303 (citing Blackstone, 4 Commentaries on the Common Law 289)(upholding sheriffs’ authority to make arrests without a warrant “for felonies and for breaches of the peace committed in [their] presence”); Kline, 741 A.2d at 1283 (observing that, per Leet, "deputy sheriffs have authority to
. The court also noted that, following our decision in Leet, the General Assembly amended the Crimes Code to define “police officer” to include "the sheriff of a county of the second class and deputy sheriffs of a county of the second class who have successfully completed the requirements [of Act 120].” 18 Pa.C.S. § 103. Observing that, presently, Allegheny County is the only "second class” county in Pennsylvania, Dobbins, 880 A.2d at 692; see id. at 695 (Del Sole, P.J.E., dissenting)(citing 116 Pennsylvania Manual § 6-3 (Dec. 2003)), the court nevertheless denied that this evinced legislative intent to abrogate sheriffs supposedly broad commonlaw power everywhere except Allegheny County, observing that sheriffs in other counties might achieve the same level of training as their counterparts in Allegheny County.
Then-President Judge Del Sole disputed this aspect of the court's holding, contending that the sorts of investigatory actions here at issue "are exclusively the province of police officers” as defined by the General Assembly in its 1995, post-Leei amendment to 18 Pa.C.S. § 103. Dobbins, 880 A.2d at 695 (Del Sole, P.J., dissenting). Noting our emphasis on sheriffs' training in Leet and Kline, the dissent observed as a possible explanation for § 103’s exclusion for second-class counties, and hence Allegheny County alone under present circumstances, the fact that only Allegheny County requires its sheriffs to undergo training equivalent to Act 120, notwithstanding that sheriffs of other counties may have such training.
. The plain language of the provision in question merely emphasizes that the Act does not limit any existing authority that lies with a given "law enforcement agency.” It does not repose, or allude to, any affirmative authority in sheriffs. Thus, relying on this alone in support of the lower court's ruling is fundamentally circular, as the effective scope of sheriffs' authority in this context is precisely the question we seek to resolve.
. Then-President Judge Del Sole found the majority's reasoning flawed in its account of the common law. Observing that this Court’s decision in Leet vindicated only a sheriff’s traffic stop of a person who breached the peace in his presence, President Judge Del Sole asserted that "[ijn this case, the sheriffs were conducting an investigation, thus looking for a breach of the peace, not witnessing one.” Dobbins, 880 A.2d at 696 (Del Sole, P.J., dissenting)(emphasis added).
. Because this presents a question of law, our standard of review is de novo and the scope of our review plenary. Kopko II, 892 A.2d at 770.
. See 18 Pa.C.S. § 5724.
. The suggestion that sheriffs, by default, have authority identical to that of municipal police officers is belied by the recent legislative action modifying 18 Pa.C.S. § 103 to add only sheriffs of second-class counties to the definition of police officer. This qualified modification, in the wake of Leet, bespeaks at a minimum a legislative intent to distinguish for certain law enforcement purposes not only certain sheriffs from municipal police officers, but also sheriffs of certain counties from sheriffs of others. See supra n. 14.
. The Commonwealth argues in the alternative that Appellant has waived any right to relief in this case because he consistently has sought the remedy of dismissal rather than mere suppression of the evidence that is the fruit of the allegedly unauthorized investigation, a point the trial court raised in rejecting Appellant's post-sentence motion. The Commonwealth is correct that suppression is the appropriate
Although our law is unequivocal regarding the nearly universally preclusive effect of a party's failure to preserve issues at each stage of litigation, see Pa.R.A.P. 302(a), the relevant rules are designed to ensure that each court that addresses a case has the opportunity to consider the possibility of its own error or that of a lower court. The Commonwealth does not argue that Appellant has, in any way, failed to preserve his challenge to sheriffs' authority at each stage of this litigation, and the record plainly reveals that Appellant has consistently raised these issues in the appropriate ways at the appropriate times. The trial court was entirely aware of the proper remedy in this case, as it expressly noted in its ruling denying Appellant's post-trial motions, and it couched its pre-trial ruling in substantive rather than formal grounds. Under these circumstances, we find no basis to deem Appellant’s argument waived.
. Nothing in this Opinion, however, should be construed to limit sheriffs’ well-documented and salutary role in support of those law enforcement agencies so authorized, nor should our ruling be read to suggest that the General Assembly lacks authority to grant broader investigatory power to sheriffs in this or other contexts. Those questions simply are not before us.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
Finding no authority to investigate drug cases, the majority deems the acts of these deputies “illegal” ab initio and orders suppression. The majority, in my estimation, mistakenly focuses on the scope of employment of a sheriffs deputy, rather than evaluating their actual conduct under the Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Constitution. I find the issue of statutory investigative authority to be a red herring, not determinative of the case; investigative authority does not settle the question of whether deputies should, may, or must investigate drug offenses. To obtain relief, appellant must show there was impropriety in the actions of the officers, some violation of a statute, our Rules, or the Constitution. I do not find he has done so.
If the actions of the sheriffs deputies, to be “legal,” required specific authority to enforce drug laws, the majority may be correct. Conversely, if their actions were not made “illegal” by a lack of specific drug law authority, the majority is incorrect. In fact, appellant does not argue specific wrongdoing beyond the alleged lack of authority to get involved with drug offenses. "Whatever their relative authority, a seriatim look at the events leads me to conclude there simply was no illegality by these officers.
The initial information that led to the search warrant was not the result of an illegal presence at the scene. The officers came to the property of April Harris, not appellant Cory Dobbins, a place where he claims no expectation of privacy on the record before us. Their reason for their presence is irrelevant — constitutional analysis of their actions does not concern itself with their motive, if the actions were not themselves invasive of appellant’s privacy or otherwise unconstitutional. As with any case, what is preliminarily relevant is whether the deputies did anything to invade the privacy of this appellant. The answer is, they did not.
The officers next sought a search warrant. The majority states, “[S]heriffs deputies had no legal authority to obtain that warrant in the first instance.” Majority Op., at 89, 934 A.2d at 1181. This is patently wrong, for anyone may request a search warrant under our Rules — one does not need special authority to seek a warrant. The “illegality” alleged being in the “who,” not the “what,” we look to our Rules, which teach us the “who” is the “affiant.” “[T]he issuing authority shall verify the identity of the affiant, and orally administer an oath to the affiant.” Pa.R.Crim.P. 203(C). An “affiant” is clearly defined in Rule 103: “any responsible person capable of taking an oath____” Id., 103. It does not say police officer or law enforcement officer — it says “any person” and makes no mention of authority, be it statutory, investigative, or otherwise.
There is no prohibition in our Rules, or elsewhere for that matter, precluding a deputy sheriff or any other citizen from appearing before an issuing authority as an affiant. Rule 204 specifically requires execution of the search warrant be accomplished by law enforcement officers — the ability to apply for a warrant, to be an affiant, is not so restricted. Pa. R.Crim.P. 204. Clearly a sheriffs deputy, capable of taking an oath, may be an affiant; to say such an officer “had no
Finding probable cause in an affidavit by a properly sworn affiant, the magistrate’s issuance of the search warrant was not illegal. Its execution by the deputies is authorized by Rule 204. Pa.R.Crim.P. 204. Thus, the fruits of the search were not illegally obtained and were properly held by all courts below to be admissible. There simply is no illegality to this point, for any citizen (authorized to enforce the drug laws or not) may act exactly as did the officers here. That they were in fact law enforcement officers only magnifies the incongruity of calling their conduct “illegal.”
The criminal complaint followed the search. Again, the Rules allow deputies and private citizens alike to file a complaint as an “affiant.” Rule 506 makes complaints not filed by law enforcement officers (as defined in Rule 103) subject to approval by the District Attorney, reinforcing the fact that an affiant need not be a law enforcement officer.
Moreover, as no evidence apparently was gained by execution of the arrest warrant, suppression is no remedy even if there had been an illegality. As is no allegation of actual prejudice resulting from the employment of the arresting officers, dismissal is also inappropriate. In sum, the officers acted legally throughout, regardless of specific drug enforcement responsibility.
The majority relies heavily on Kopko v. Miller, 586 Pa. 170, 892 A.2d 766 (2006) {Kopko II), which held sheriffs “are not ‘investigative or law enforcement officers’ pursuant to [the
Kopko II stated, “[T]he sole question before us involves the interpretation of statutory language ... in the Wiretapping Act....” Kopko II, at 770. Kopko II only concluded sheriffs were not “investigative or law enforcement officers” as uniquely defined in that act and thus could not obtain wiretap training. Id. Section 5708 of that act looks to whether an officer has the responsibility to investigate a predicate offense — it does not depend on whether officers had the ability to do so. 18 Pa.C.S. § 5708. This distinction is significant, for while deputy sheriffs may not be responsible for investigating drug offenses, (which excludes them from the list of law enforcement officers eligible for wiretap training), Kopko II does not amount to a sweeping preclusion of their ability to participate in all law enforcement procedures just because they involve crimes enumerated in § 5708. One has the legal right to participate in many things that one is not responsible for; not being responsible for your brother’s keep does not prevent you from helping out now and then on pain of “illegality.” In any event, the issue of general authority (rather than specific responsibility) simply was not before the court in Kopko II.
These officers made no warrantless search; they made no illegal search. They brought no illegal charges, and made no warrantless or illegal arrest. They acted lawfully throughout, followed our Rules, and obtained the appropriate paperwork after review by judicial officers. Whether they had specific statutory authority to enforce drug laws or not,
. In Commonwealth v. Leet, 537 Pa. 89, 641 A.2d 299 (1994), a deputy used a citation to bring summary charges, a procedure not authorized for a non-law enforcement officer-citizens may institute charges, but may not use citations. The case decided that issue, holding sheriffs are law enforcement officers under our Rules for purposes of instituting charges. Id., at 301. There is no reason to find a deputy should be otherwise for purposes of non-citation offenses. Sheriffs and deputies undoubtedly are "law enforcement officers” under our Rules and our jurisprudence.
. The majority holds "sheriffs lack authority to conduct independent investigations under the Coni rolled Substances Act, including the seek
Regardless, as these officers saw considerable evidence of a felony drug manufacturing operation, they might have taken action on this recognized basis alone. No court below considered this, since the actions of the deputies were deemed appropriate. As the majority now finds the behavior "illegal” for want of statutory authority, the proper remedy should at most be a remand for consideration of their authority to act on probable cause to believe there was a felony, a point understandably not addressed below, and on which we have received no advocacy or authority.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Cory DOBBINS, Appellant
- Cited By
- 25 cases
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- Published