Com. v. Stokes, M. ( 2021 )

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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
MARK STOKES :
:
Appellant : No. 2123 EDA 2020
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence1 Entered September 2, 2020
In the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-23-CR-0004645-2019
BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and COLINS, J.*
MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, J.: FILED OCTOBER 8, 2021
Mark Stokes appeals from the judgment of sentence, entered in the
Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, following his conviction for
driving under the influence (DUI)—general impairment/incapable of safe
driving, a second offense.2 Upon careful review, we find that Stokes’ arresting
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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
1 Although Stokes filed his notice of appeal from the October 8, 2020 order
denying post-verdict motions, we have amended the caption to reflect that
the appeal is technically taken from the judgment of sentence. See
Commonwealth v. Shamberger, 788 A.2d 408, 410 n.2 (Pa. Super. 2001)
(en banc) (stating appeal in criminal matter properly lies from judgment of
sentence imposed, not date post-sentence motions decided); see also
Commonwealth v. Chamberlain, 658 A.2d 395, 397 (Pa. Super. 1995)
(order denying post-sentence motion acts to finalize judgment of sentence;
thus, appeal is taken from judgment of sentence, not order denying post-
sentence motion).
2 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(a)(1).
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officer’s mistaken belief was unreasonable and, thus, did not supply the
probable cause necessary to stop Stokes’ vehicle. Thus, we vacate and
remand.
On the evening of April 6, 2019, Officer Allen Reeves was on patrol
driving Southbound on PA-452, a four-lane highway, when he passed Stokes’
vehicle, a white Cadillac, travelling in the opposite direction. N.T. Suppression
Hearing 11/26/19, at 12, 15-16, 26. Officer Reeves heard “a loud roar from
the engine” of Stokes’ vehicle, id. at 23, and noticed that it also had tinted
windows. Id. at 14. Officer Reeves believed he saw Stokes’ vehicle travel
straight through an intersection, at a traffic light, while in a left-turn-only lane.
Id. at 30. Officer Reeves allegedly observed Stokes approximately one-half
to three quarters of a mile away, from his side-view mirror, travel through the
intersection. Id. at 26, 30. Officer Reeves testified that he could see the
oncoming Northbound lanes of travel where Stokes’ vehicle was positioned,
but not the entire intersection. Id. Officer Reeves also testified that he did
not recall what color the traffic light was when Stokes’ vehicle went through
the intersection. Id. at 22.
A traffic surveillance video and two screen-shots from the video, offered
by the defense at trial, showed that Stokes’ vehicle was not, in fact, in a left-
turn-only lane when he proceeded through the intersection. Id. at 25. Officer
Reeves conceded this mistake on cross-examination after the defense played
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the video. Id. at 25.3 Officer Reeves testified that the right-lane, which
Stokes was seen driving in at the beginning of the video, merges into the left-
lane 100 yards beyond the intersection. The officer also testified that Stokes’
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3 The following exchange took place on cross-examination:
Defense Counsel: According to what you saw in this video, did
[Stokes] commit the offense that you are telling us about today?
Officer Reeves: N[o] he did not.
Defense Counsel: Okay.
Officer Reeves: The traffic camera shows him traveling straight
in the straight lane.
Defense Counsel: Okay. And you would agree that he didn’t
commit a violation?
Officer Reeves: From what I believed, he – from looking at the
traffic camera, there was no violation.
Defense Counsel: Okay. But I think you were going to tell us
from what you believed, meaning what you saw in your rearview
mirror, that’s when you –
Officer Reeves: Correct, I believed, by looking in my rearview
mirror, I firmly believed that he committed traffic offense.
* * *
Defense Counsel: We now know, in fact, that he didn’t commit
that?
Officer Reeves: Correct.
Id. at 25-26.
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driving was consistent with someone merging properly from the right-lane into
the left-lane. Id. at 30.
After Officer Reeves made a U-turn to conduct a traffic stop of Stokes’
vehicle, Stokes made a left turn from I-95 onto Booker Avenue, turned into a
driveway, and parked his Cadillac. Id. at 25. At that point, Officer Reeves
activated his emergency lights and siren, parked and exited his patrol car, and
approached Stokes’ parked vehicle. Id. at 17. Officer Reeves testified that
about sixty seconds elapsed between when he observed Stokes entering the
intersection and when he conducted the traffic stop. Officer Reeves also
testified that he lost sight of Stokes’ vehicle for about forty of the sixty seconds
needed to turn his cruiser around and follow Stokes to conduct the stop. Id.
at 20.4
Stokes filed a pre-trial motion in limine, claiming that Officer Reeves
lacked probable cause to conduct the warrantless traffic stop and, therefore,
Stokes’ arrest was unlawful and all evidence obtained as a result of the stop
should be suppressed. Omnibus Pre-Trial Motion, 9/6/19, at 2. On November
26, 2019, the trial court held a suppression hearing, at which Officer Reeves
testified. Following the hearing, the trial court denied Stokes’ motion, entering
detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law to support its decision. See
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4 Officer Reeves testified that he inspected Stokes’ Cadillac more closely after
it was pulled over and noticed that the license plate cover was illegally tinted.
Id. at 18-19. However, Officer Reeves further testified that the sole reason
he initiated the traffic stop was because Stokes appeared to travel straight
through the intersection in a left-turn-only lane. Id. at 21-22.
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Order Denying Defendant’s Motion to Suppress, 1/8/20, at 1-4. The
suppression judge noted that she “found Officer Reeves’ testimony to be a
credible account of the traffic stop,” id. at 2, and concluded after examining a
totality of the circumstances that, “based on [Officer Reeves’] observations[,]
even if they were later proven to be mistaken[,] . . . Officer Reeves’ belief that
[Stokes] violated the [] Vehicle Code was objectively reasonable [and, thus,
he] . . . had probable cause to stop [Stokes’] vehicle.”5 Id. at 6. On February
3, 2020, Stokes filed a motion for reconsideration of the order denying his
suppression motion. The court denied the reconsideration motion the
following day, on February 4, 2020.
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5 To support its conclusion that the stop was lawful and based upon probable
cause, the trial court relies on Heien v. North Carolina, 574 U.S. 54, 62
(2014). In Heien, the United States Supreme Court held that officers may
rely on reasonable mistakes of law to establish probable cause without
violating the Fourth Amendment. However, the trial court interpreted Heien
to also support the conclusion that reasonable mistakes of fact can support
probable cause under the Fourth Amendment. However, the Heien Court only
stated this principle in dicta. Moreover, unlike Heien, which involved the
Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, this matter implicates
the more protective Pennsylvania Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, as
discussed below. See Trial Court Opinion, 12/7/2020, at 5-6; Pa. Const. Art.
1 § 8; Heien, 574 U.S. at 62; see also Commonwealth v. Edmunds, 586
A.2d 887, 898-99 (Pa. 1991) (holding that Pennsylvania’s Constitution
extends further protection than Fourth Amendment because it also serves
privacy concerns and bolsters warrants). While the trial court is correct that
reasonable mistakes of fact can support a finding of probable cause, Heien is
not dispositive of the issue on appeal. 574 U.S. at 62; see Commonwealth
v. Chase, 960 A.2d 108, 120 (Pa. 2008).
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Officer Reeves charged Stokes with the above-mentioned offense, DUI-
general impairment,6 and the summary offense of obedience to traffic control
devices, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3111(a). After a one-day bench trial, held on July 1,
2020, the trial court found Stokes guilty of DUI and not guilty of violating
section 3111(a). See Verdict, 7/6/20. On September 2, 2020, the trial court
sentenced Stokes to five days to six months’ imprisonment. Stokes filed
timely post-verdict motions on September 14, 2020, which the trial court
denied on October 8, 2020. Stokes filed a timely notice of appeal and court-
ordered Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) concise statement of errors complained of on
appeal.
Stokes presents the following issue for our review: “Whether the trial
court erred when it denied a motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result
of a vehicle stop and subsequent arrest of a motorist when the stop was
unreasonable based on the totality of the circumstances[.]” Appellant’s Brief,
at 4.
When reviewing an order denying a motion to suppress evidence, we
must determine whether the trial court’s factual findings are supported by the
evidence of record. Commonwealth v. Blair, 860 A.2d 567, 571 (Pa. Super.
2004). If the evidence supports the trial court’s findings, we are bound by
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6 During the stop, Officer Reeves observed that Stokes showed signs of
intoxication and viewed Corona beer bottles in Stokes’ vehicle. Officer Chad
Osborne arrived to assist Officer Reeves in his traffic stop and administered
two field sobriety tests to Stokes, which Stokes failed. N.T. Non-Jury Trial,
7/1/20, at 34, 30, 37. Officer Osbourne then asked Stokes to sign a DL-26
for a blood test, which he refused. Id. at 42.
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them and may reverse only if the legal conclusions drawn therefrom are
erroneous. Id. “[W]here a motion to suppress has been filed, the burden is
on the Commonwealth to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that
the challenged evidence is admissible.” Commonwealth v. Powell, 994
A.2d 1096, 1101 (Pa. Super. 2010). Our factual review is limited to the
suppression court’s record, but we review the suppression court’s conclusions
of law de novo. Commonwealth v. Snyder, 963 A.2d 396, 400 (Pa. 2009).
Stokes claims that the trial court improperly denied his suppression
motion where, based on a totality of the circumstances, Officer Reeves’ vehicle
stop was unreasonable. Specifically, Stokes contends that “[O]fficer [Reeves]
could not have reasonably believed, based on all of the surrounding
circumstances, that a motor vehicle violation occurred, and, thus[,] the
Commonwealth failed to present sufficient independent, articulable facts upon
which the court could determine that the vehicle stop was permissible.”
Appellant’s Brief, at 9. We agree.
Instantly, Officer Reeves stopped Stokes’ vehicle after he allegedly
witnessed him travel through an intersection in a left-turn-only lane. The
Pennsylvania Vehicle Code requires that drivers obey the instruction of any
applicable official traffic-control device, such as a left-turn-only lane. See 75
Pa.C.S. § 3111. Moreover, “a police officer may stop a motor vehicle if he or
she reasonably believes that a provision of the [] Vehicle Code is being or has
been violated.” Commonwealth v. Dewitt, 608 A.2d 1030, 1032 (Pa.
1992).
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Probable cause, rather than reasonable suspicion, is required to justify
a vehicle stop for a suspected Vehicle Code violation when the driver’s
detention cannot serve an investigatory purpose relevant to the suspected
violation. See 75 Pa.C.S. § 6308(b) (investigation by police officers); see
also Commonwealth v. Feczko, 10 A.3d 1285, 1291 (Pa. Super. 2010) (en
banc) (holding vehicle stop could not serve investigative purpose relevant to
driver suspected of using multiple lanes); Commonwealth v. Freeman, 150
A.3d 32, 34-35 (Pa. Super. 2016) (holding vehicle stop following suspected
violation of driving too closely could not serve investigative purpose and,
therefore, required probable cause). Thus, Officer Reeves was required to
have probable cause in order to stop Stokes’ vehicle, where he suspected that
Stokes violated section 3111 and no further investigation was necessary to
clarify whether the violation occurred. Feczko, 10 A.3d at 1291; Freeman,
150 A.3d at 34-35.
In order to prove probable cause, the Commonwealth must demonstrate
that “facts and circumstances within the police officer’s knowledge and of
which the officer has reasonably trustworthy information” are sufficient “to
warrant a person of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been
committed by the person to be arrested . . . determined by the totality of the
circumstances.” Commonwealth v. Anthony, 1 A.3d 914, 996-97 (Pa.
Super. 2010) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). For the
reasons that follow, we conclude that Officer Reeves lacked the probable cause
necessary to effectuate a constitutional stop of Stokes’ vehicle.
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Pennsylvania allows for reasonable mistakes of fact to constitute
probable cause, but the Commonwealth must demonstrate that the mistake
was reasonable given the circumstances. See Chase, supra at 120; see
also Commonwealth v. Rachau, 670 A.2d 731, 735 (Pa. Cmwlth. Ct. 1996)
(finding officers were unreasonably mistaken when they believed boat lacked
registration even though it had visible, green registration sticker on white
paint). Whether a mistake is reasonable is typically examined by whether
there are specific factors beyond the mistake itself that could lead a
reasonable officer to make the mistake in question. See Chase, supra at
120; see also Rachau, supra, at 735; Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 2020
Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 317 at *2, 9 (Pa. Super. 2020) (unpublished
memorandum decision) (finding officer established probable cause when he
reasonably mistook passenger of vehicle as driver after he saw passenger in
driver’s seat earlier when car was parked).7
In Commonwealth v. Pinney, 378 A.2d 293, 295-96 (Pa. 1977), our
Supreme Court held that an officer was unreasonable in mistaking a
defendant, who was part of a larger group of three, for either one of two
suspects. Those suspects, like the defendant, were also white, young, long-
haired, and found within 70 miles of where the crime occurred. In that case,
the police officers were told that one of the suspects had long, shaggy, black
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7 See Pa. Super. Ct. O.P. 65.37(C) (“Non-precedential decisions filed after
May 1, 2019, may be cited for their persuasive value, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.
126(b).”).
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hair. Id. at 295. The defendant’s hair, however, was light brown. Id.
Moreover, the defendant was four inches shorter, thirty pounds lighter, and
lacked the facial markings of the second suspect. Id. The Pennsylvania
Supreme Court noted in its decision that “good faith is not enough” and there
was a lack of specific factual support to even uphold reasonable suspicion for
a Terry8 frisk given the dissimilarities among the suspects and the defendant,
including that the defendant had a different name, he did not act suspiciously,
and his physical appearance was different. Id. at 296.
Here, the trial court and prosecution fail to cite specific facts, other than
the mistake itself, to support the inference that Stokes went straight in a left-
turn-only lane or that Officer Reeves’ mistake was reasonable. Cf. Mitchell,
supra. In fact, Officer Reeves’ own testimony supports the conclusion that
his belief was not reasonable. Specifically, Officer Reeves testified that: (1)
the traffic stop took place in the dark at 10:30 p.m.; (2) he lost sight of Stokes’
vehicle for approximately forty of the sixty seconds it took to catch up with
him to effectuate the stop; (3) he was one-half to three-quarters of a mile
away from Stokes when he believed he saw him go straight in the left-turn-
only lane; (4) he observed Stokes travel through the intersection in his side-
view mirror; and (5) both he and Stokes were driving in opposite directions
when Officer Reeves made his mistaken observation. N.T. Suppression
Hearing, 11/26/19, at 17-25. All of these factors, taken together, do not
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8 Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968).
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suggest that the facts and circumstances within Officer Reeves’ knowledge
were sufficient “to warrant a person of reasonable caution [to] belie[ve]” that
Stokes went straight through the intersection in the left-turn-only lane.
Anthony, supra at 996-97. Thus, we find the Commonwealth failed to
demonstrate that Officer Reeves’ mistake was reasonable and, accordingly,
conclude that Officer Reeves lacked probable cause to initiate the vehicle stop.
See Chase, supra; Feczko, supra; see also 75 Pa.C.S. § 6308(b). Because
the trial court’s legal conclusions are not supported by the record, the court
erred in denying Stokes’ pre-trial suppression motion. Blair, supra.9
Judgment of sentence vacated. Suppression order reversed. Case
remanded for further proceedings.10 Jurisdiction relinquished.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 10/8/2021
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9 Our decision today does not ignore the well-established precept that “[i]t is
within the suppression court’s sole province as factfinder to pass on the
credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony.”
Commonwealth v. Gallagher, 896 A.2d 583, 585 (Pa. Super. 2006).
However, even acknowledging the fact that the trial court found Officer
Reeves’ account to be credible, supra at 5, his mistake was not reasonable.
10In light of our disposition, we vacate Stokes’ judgment of sentence and
remand for a new trial at which the evidence derived from Stokes’
unconstitutional stop shall be suppressed.
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