Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Superior Court 6/04/08 - COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. CHRISTOPHER M. COLLINS

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. CHRISTOPHER M. COLLINS
No. 1437 MDA 2006 2008 PA Super 124 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 6/4/2008
Appeal from the Order entered July 11, 2006 In the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County Criminal at No(s): CP-14-CR-0000635-2006
Before: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J., STEVENS, ORIE MELVIN, BENDER, BOWES, GANTMAN, PANELLA, DONOHUE and ALLEN, JJ.
Opinion by: STEVENS, J.
Dissenting Opinion by: DONOHUE, J.
This is an appeal from the order entered by the Honorable Bradley P. Lunsford, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County, Pennsylvania, granting Appellee’s Omnibus Pre-trial Motion to Suppress Evidence. At issue is whether a police officer’s safety check of passengers in a vehicle parked legally, after sundown, at a roadside location constitutes a mere encounter or an investigative detention. We find that given the totality of the circumstances, there was a mere encounter. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

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