Commonwealth v. Labron

CASTILLE, Justice,

dissenting.

Although the majority correctly characterizes Pennsylvania law regarding the “automobile exception” to the warrant requirement, I write separately only because I do not believe that this case should have been allowed to proceed to this point because, although the Commonwealth inexplicably has conceded standing in its brief, I do not believe appellant has such standing as to have a right to be before this or any Court to seek suppression of the evidence in issue. I, therefore, dissent to the majority’s consideration of the merits of appellant’s suppression claim as I do not believe this Court should rule upon matters wherein the complaining party has no standing. I further disagree with the majority’s reversal of the Superior Court because even if appellant has standing, he nevertheless does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy that would warrant suppression of the illegal drugs seized from a third party’s car.

Although these issues upon which I would base our affir-mance of the Superior Court’s ruling were not raised by the Commonwealth either on appeal to the Superior Court or in the brief to this Court, it is well established that this Court may affirm the order of the court below if the result it reached is correct for any reason. Commonwealth v. Allsup, 481 Pa. 313, 317 , 392 A.2d 1309, 1311 (1978) (Superior Court based *105 ruling on Constitutional issue, but this Court raised the issue of statutory interpretation sua sponte and affirmed on those grounds); Commonwealth v. Triplett, 476 Pa. 83 , 90 n. 10, 381 A.2d 877 , 881 n. 10 (1977) (Court sua sponte raised waiver issue and based affirmed order on those grounds); Commonwealth v. Colon, 461 Pa. 577 , 585 n. 5, 337 A.2d 554 , 558 n. 5 (1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1056 , 96 S.Ct. 788 , 46 L.Ed.2d 645 (1976) (Court sua sponte found statement which was suppressed by trial court as hearsay to be inadmissible because not relevant); Commonwealth v. Hines, 461 Pa. 271 , 273 n. 35, 336 A.2d 280 , 282 n. 3 (1975) (“While the question of waiver has not been raised by any party to this litigation, this Court may affirm an order if it is correct for any reason.”), citations omitted. Because appellant did not have standing and therefore did not have a right to bring the issue of the validity of the search before the courts, I believe this issue should be raised sua sponte and I would affirm the order of the Superior Court on those grounds.

In order to challenge the admission of evidence at a criminal trial, a defendant must, as a fundamental prerequisite, show that he has standing to challenge the search or seizure by which the government obtained the evidence. See Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 140 , 99 S.Ct. 421, 428-29 , 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978) (courts applying federal law must first determine whether a particular search violated protected fourth amendment interests before examining the legality of the search). See also Commonwealth v. Peterson, 535 Pa. 492, 497 , 636 A.2d 615, 617 (1993) (having first had his standing acknowledged, a criminal defendant is only then permitted to assert the merits of his suppression motion). The standing requirement in the criminal suppression context narrows the reach of the exclusionary rule by limiting the field of individuals permitted to challenge an illegal search or seizure. The standing requirement thereby helps conserve scarce judicial resources. See Wm. Penn Parking Garage, Inc. v. City of Pittsburgh, 464 Pa. 168, 191 , 346 A.2d 269, 280 (1975).

The United States Supreme Court limits Fourth Amendment standing to those criminal defendants who can demon *106 strate a “legitimate expectation of privacy” in an item seized or the area searched. Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 104 , 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2561 , 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980) (defendants must show not just that the search was illegal, but that the search violated the defendant’s legitimate expectation of privacy in the area searched); Rakas, supra, 439 U.S. at 140 , 99 S.Ct. at 428-29 (since the Fourth Amendment protects personal rights, a government search that does not invade an area in which the defendant has a legitimate expectation of privacy does not violate the defendant’s fourth amendment rights). To confer standing under the federal standard, the defendant’s expectation of privacy must be both (1) subjectively held; and (2) reasonably justified. Rakas, supra at 143 & n. 12, 99 S.Ct. at 430 & n. 12.

Under Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, however, this Court looks to several additional factors to determine whether a criminal defendant has standing to challenge the admission of evidence against him. To gain standing to challenge the admission of evidence at a criminal trial, a Pennsylvania defendant must prove that (1) he was present on the premises at the time the police searched it or seized evidence from it; or (2) he has a possessory interest in the evidence seized; or (3) the offense with which he is charged includes “possession” at the time of the contested search as an essential element of the prosecution’s case; or (4) he has a proprietary or possessory interest in the searched premises. Commonwealth v. Peterkin, 511 Pa. 299, 309-311 , 513 A.2d 373, 378 (1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1070 , 107 S.Ct. 962 , 93 L.Ed.2d 1010 (1987); Commonwealth v. Treftz, 465 Pa. 614, 621-622 , 351 A.2d 265, 268 , cert. denied, 426 U.S. 940 , 96 S.Ct. 2658 , 49 L.Ed.2d 392 (1976) (adopting Brown v. United States, 411 U.S. 223 , 93 S.Ct. 1565 , 36 L.Ed.2d 208 (1973)).

Here, although Melendez or even Santiago may have been able to assert a colorable standing claim on the instant facts, appellant could not assert any interest sufficient to confer upon him the standing necessary to challenge the admission of the evidence against him under the above four-pronged test. First, appellant was not “present” on the “premises” of the *107 blue Lincoln at the time the police searched its trunk because appellant was not a passenger in the car but was in fact standing away from the car at the time of his arrest and the search of the trunk. See Commonwealth v. Gallagher, 276 Pa.Super. 593, 595-597 , 419 A.2d 616, 618-619 (1980) (since appellant was not a passenger of the van at the time the police searched the van, appellant was not “present” at the premises searched). See also Commonwealth v. Johnson, 431 Pa.Super. 291, 297 , 636 A.2d 656, 659 (1994), appeal denied, 539 Pa. 646 , 651 A.2d 534 (1994) (defendant abandoned reasonable expectation of privacy in bag containing contraband by placing it in a tree in a public park and standing 10 to 12 feet away and approaching bag only to show crack cocaine in bag to potential customer).

Second, appellant cannot reasonably assert any possessory interest sufficient to give him standing in the cocaine seized from the trunk of the car. The car belonged to Melendez and appellant’s access to the car was regulated by Melendez and Santiago. Appellant could not assert a reasonable claim to a possessory interest in the cocaine inside the trunk of the car since access was controlled by others.

Third, the offense with which appellant was charged did not include possession at the time of the contested search and seizure as an essential element of the prosecution’s case. The Commonwealth charged appellant only with delivery of a controlled substance, not possession, and with criminal conspiracy as a result of his delivery of a controlled substance to Melendez. When a person “meaningfully abdicates his control, ownership or possessory interest” in a possession he no longer has a Constitutionally protected interest in that possession. Commonwealth v. Sell, 504 Pa. 46, 67 , 470 A.2d 457, 469 (1983). 1 Once appellant delivered the controlled substance to *108 Melendez and Santiago, he had surrendered his interest therein and was no longer entitled to the constitutional protection against search and seizure afforded personal property. See also Pennsylvania Standard Criminal Instructions § 16.13(a)(30)(B) (Pa.Bar Inst.1980) (noting no provision for the defendant’s possession of a controlled substance necessary to convict the defendant of delivery of a controlled substance).

In Peterkin, supra, this Court held that the appellant had no standing to challenge the search of the home of an acquaintance in which a firearm was found because the only possesso-ry crime with which he was charged was possession of an. instrument of crime in the commission of a robbery and double murder. This Court determined that the appellant was not entitled to automatic standing because the Commonwealth’s case against him on that possessory crime was not dependent on the appellant’s possession of the firearm at the time of the search, but rather depended on his possession of the firearm at the time of the murders and robbery. Under this analysis, whether appellant in the case sub judice possessed the controlled substance at some point before he delivered it to Melendez is irrelevant for the purposes of automatic standing. Because appellant did not actually or constructively possess any controlled substance at the time of the contested search he is not entitled to automatic standing under this prong.

Finally, appellant cannot claim any proprietary interest in the automobile because Melendez owned the blue Lincoln, not appellant. Further, appellant cannot claim any possessory interest in the car because Melendez, the car’s owner, controlled access to the trunk of the car. Even when Melendez left the scene, he left the keys to the car with Santiago, not appellant. Although Santiago later directed appellant to open the trunk of the car to put another plastic bag into the trunk, appellant complied with his instructions and then immediately returned the keys to Santiago. Since the owner of the car, Melendez, entrusted the keys to the car only to Santiago and since appellant only had access to the keys and to the trunk of *109 the car at Santiago’s discretion, appellant cannot reasonably claim any possessory interest in the car or contents therein. See Peterkin, supra (appellant had no proprietary or possessory interest in the home of an acquaintance).

Accordingly, under Peterkin , appellant cannot assert any interest sufficient to confer standing to challenge the admission of the cocaine into evidence at his criminal trial. On this basis, the majority opinion erred in considering the underlying merits of appellant’s suppression claim.

Even if appellant has standing to challenge the search, he nevertheless does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the items seized or the place searched that would warrant suppression. Peterson, supra. In order to invoke the remedy of suppression, appellant “must demonstrate that he held such a privacy interest which was actual, societally sanctioned as reasonable, and justifiable in the place invaded that the war-rantless entry of the police violated his right under the Constitution of this Commonwealth, Article 1, Section 8, to be ‘secure ... against unreasonable searches and seizures.’ ” Id. (citation omitted). Because appellant did not have a possesso-ry or proprietary interest in the place searched or the items seized and was not present when the search was conducted, he did not have a legitimate expectation of privacy which would entitle him to suppression of the cocaine. Therefore, even if appellant had standing to challenge the search and seizure, he is not entitled to suppression. Id. (appellant is not entitled to suppression of items seized in search of abandoned storefront because he did not have an expectation of privacy which society recognizes as legitimate); Commonwealth v. McCul-lum, 529 Pa. 117, 134 , 602 A.2d 313, 321 (1992) (appellant is not entitled to suppression of items seized in search of another’s home because he did not have a legitimate expectation of privacy in the premises searched).

Unfortunately, the majority’s decision vastly expands the reach of the privacy protections of the Pennsylvania and United States Constitutions to areas where it is not warranted — that is, to situations where a defendant has no legitimate expectation of privacy, has no ownership interest at stake and *110 was not present at or in the location searched at the time of the search. In so doing, a criminal in Pennsylvania now arguably even has standing to challenge drugs he delivered to another person but were then seized from that person by a police officer. This decision gives unwarranted protection to the purveyors of death in Pennsylvania’s communities and effectively ties the hands of law enforcement in its efforts to root out the scourge of drugs in our society. I therefore respectfully dissent.

. In Sell , this Court declined to abrogate the doctrine of automatic standing as the United States Supreme Court had done in United States v. Salvucci, 448 U.S. 83 , 100 S.Ct. 2547 , 65 L.Ed.2d 619 (1978). The appellant in that case had been charged with receiving stolen property. This Court held that the appellant had automatic standing because possession was an essential element of the crime charged. That holding was based on the fact that receiving, by definition, entails the *108 acquisition of possession. Delivery, on the other hand, entails surrendering possession to another.