Summary
The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed Jesus Correa's judgment of sentence for possession with intent to deliver and knowing or intentional possession of a controlled substance. The court held that police had reasonable suspicion to conduct a Terry frisk based on the totality of the circumstances, including Correa's presence in a stolen vehicle, an open firearms charge, and the high-crime area, and therefore did not reach his alternative argument concerning probable cause for arrest.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the warrantless pat-down search violated the Fourth Amendment or Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution because the police lacked reasonable suspicion that Correa was armed and dangerous.
- Whether the search could be justified as a search incident to arrest when the police allegedly lacked probable cause to arrest Correa.
Holdings
- The Terry frisk was lawful because the vehicle stop was valid and the totality of the circumstances gave the officer reasonable suspicion that Correa was armed and dangerous.
- Correa's challenge to the search incident to arrest exception could not provide relief because the frisk was independently valid under Terry; the court therefore did not decide whether probable cause existed to arrest Correa before the narcotics were discovered.
Key quotations
“The second type of interaction, an investigative detention, is a temporary detention of a citizen. This interaction constitutes a seizure of a person, and to be constitutionally valid police must have a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot.” (5-6)
“Considering the totality of the circumstances, Sergeant Dooley had reasonable suspicion Correa may be armed and dangerous, permitting a Terry frisk.” (8-9)
Factual background
Police stopped a car with a stolen license plate in a high-crime area while investigating narcotics activity and violent crimes. Correa was a passenger, neither he nor the driver could produce vehicle registration, and Correa stated that he had just paid bail on an open firearms case. Before placing Correa in a police vehicle for investigative detention, an officer frisked him after observing him press his body against the car; the frisk revealed 96 packages containing fentanyl.
Procedural history
Police stopped a vehicle in which Correa was a passenger because it displayed a stolen license plate. After Correa disclosed that he had an open firearms case, officers removed him from the vehicle and conducted a Terry frisk, recovering fentanyl. The suppression court denied Correa's motion to suppress, and the trial court convicted him of possession with intent to deliver and knowing or intentional possession of a controlled substance and sentenced him to one to two years of imprisonment followed by two years of probation. The Superior Court affirmed the judgment of sentence.