stating that, “[t]he police have probable cause where the facts and circumstances within the [police] officer’s knowledge are sufficient to warrant a person of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been or is being committed” (citation and original quotation marks omitted)
How later courts described this case
- stating that, “[t]he police have probable cause where the facts and circumstances within the [police] officer’s knowledge are sufficient to warrant a person of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been or is being committed” (citation and original quotation marks omitted)
- holding that “where there is potential danger to police or others in the context of a vehicle stop, exigency has been established for purposes of a warrantless search,” but also stating that “police must be able to articulate the danger posed”
- holding that, when evaluating probable cause in the totality of the circumstances, “it is reasonable to assume that an identified citizen who reports an observation of criminal activity to police is trustworthy[.]”
- holding that “[w]arrantless vehicle searches in this Commonwealth must be accompanied not only by probable cause, but also by exigent circumstances beyond mere mobility; ‘one without the other is insufficient’”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Justice SAYLOR,
concurring.
Subject to the understanding that the majority addresses itself only to a subset of the circumstances that can reasonably *345 be deemed “exigent” for purposes of the automobile exception to the warrant requirement as it pertains in Pennsylvania, I join the majority opinion. I obviously share Mr. Justice Castille’s view that the exception applies more broadly, as reflected in my decision to join the lead opinion in Commonwealth v. McCree, 592 Pa. 238 , 924 A.2d 621 (2007) (plurality). See also Commonwealth v. Perry, 568 Pa. 499, 536-38 , 798 A.2d 697, 719-20 (2002) (Saylor, J., concurring). I believe that the solution advanced in McCree , which favors the adoption of the federal automobile exception subject to a warrant-when-practicable requirement, represents an appropriate stance and an essential resolution of the longstanding disharmony regarding fundamental principles governing police conduct in this line of cases.
Finally, I see no further need to consider whether the search in this case falls within the broader scope of the exigent circumstances exception, since I agree with the majority that the affidavit of probable cause contains sufficient independent information to support the issuance of the search warrant.
Justice EAKIN joins this concurring opinion.