Commonwealth v. Johns

Summary

The court denied the Commonwealth’s petition to compel a respondent to provide a voice exemplar before arrest and without probable cause for an arrest warrant. Although the court concluded that compelled voice exemplars would not violate the Fourth or Fifth Amendments, it held that Pennsylvania courts lacked statutory or procedural authority to order such pre-arrest discovery outside a grand jury proceeding. The order denying the petition was entered on February 22, 1979.

Holdings

1. Compelling a person to furnish a voice exemplar does not violate the Fourth Amendment because the exemplar involves production of a physical characteristic of the person's voice that is constantly exposed to the public.
2. Compelling a person to furnish a voice exemplar does not violate the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination because the exemplar is physical, not testimonial or communicative.
3. The Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas lacked jurisdiction to order the requested pre-arrest voice exemplar because neither Pennsylvania statute nor the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure authorized the relief, and the court had no inherent power to grant criminal discovery or enforce administrative subpoenas.

Questions Presented

1. Whether compelling a pre-arrest voice exemplar without probable cause violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.
2. Whether compelling a voice exemplar violates the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
3. Whether the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas had statutory, rule-based, or inherent jurisdiction to order a pre-arrest voice exemplar when no criminal rule or statute authorized the procedure.

Disposition

dismissed