For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 51
Commw. v. Mathis:
Decided: November 22, 2017
Nature of the case: Mathis was in the
kitchen of a home that belonged to Gary
Waters, and was receiving a haircut. Waters
was on state parole. State parole agents
entered the home to perform a "home
visit" and purportedly smelled marijuana
in the living room. The agents did not
smell marijuana in the kitchen, but told
Mathis that he was being detained. Mathis
complied with the agents' instructions,
but refused to consent to a search. Based
on, among other things, the smell and the
observation of a bulge in Mathis' clothing,
the agents frisked Mathis and found a gun;
Mathis then admitted to having marijuana.
Mathis was cuffed and ultimately arrested.
Issue: "Whether, as a matter of first
impression, the Superior Court erred in
affirming the trial court's decision denying
[petitioner's] motion to suppress evidence
where state parole agents lacked authority
and subsequently reasonable suspicion
to detain [petitioner] and conduct an
investigative detention in violation of
Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania
Constitution and the Fourth Amendment to
the United States Constitution?"
Amicus Argument: PACDL argued that
parole officers have no statutory authority
to detain or frisk private citizens during
an investigation of a parolee. PACDL
also argued that, regardless, the search
of Mathis violated the United States and
Pennsylvania Constitutions insofar as there
were no reasonable grounds to believe that
Mathis was engaged in criminal conduct or
that he was armed and dangerous.
Held: In a 4-3 decision, the majority held
that "...parole agents have the authority
to conduct a protective Terry frisk of nonparolees within the course of executing
their statutorily imposed duties, so long as
reasonable suspicion supports the agents'
conduct." The majority found that the
parole agent possessed reasonable suspicion
to justify the protective frisk at issue.
Chief Justice Saylor authored the majority
opinion, which was joined by Justices Baer,
Todd and Mundy. Justice Dougherty filed a
dissenting opinion in which Justice Donohue
joined. Justice Wecht also authored a
dissenting opinion.
Amicus Authors: Leonard Sosnov,
Defender Association of Philadelphia and
David Rudovsky of Rudovsky, Messing,
Feinberg & Lin, LLP
Commw. v. Loughnane:
Decided: November 22, 2017
Nature of case: A woman was struck and
killed by a truck. A description of the truck
was provided. Two weeks later, the police
received information that a truck that fit
the description was parked in a driveway.
Hours later, the truck was seized from the
driveway without a warrant and towed to a
police garage. Four days later, a warrant was
obtained to search the truck, which was still
in police custody.
Issue: "Whether the Superior Court erred
by holding that the automobile exception,
adopted in Commonwealth v. Gary, 91
A.3d 102 (Pa. 2014), allowed police to seize
a vehicle from the defendant's private
residential driveway without a warrant."
Amicus Argument: PACDL argued that
the federal automobile exception adopted
in Gary should be limited to situations
involving exigent circumstances and should
not be applied under Article I, Section 8 to
cases where police have the opportunity to
secure a warrant before stopping or seizing
a vehicle. PACDL asserted that the United
States Supreme Court's automobile exception
to the warrant requirement was overbroad
and inconsistent with the history, policies and
Vol. 3, Issue 1
l
For The Defense
51
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018
Contents
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 1
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 2
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - Contents
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 4
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 5
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 6
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 7
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 8
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 9
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 10
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 11
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 12
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 13
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 14
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 15
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 16
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 17
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 18
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 19
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 20
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 21
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 22
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For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 26
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 27
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For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 56
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