Com. v. Hand, W., 2579 EDA 2016

Officers responded around 12:10 a.m. to a 3462 Frankford Avenue disturbance involving a person with a gun. The front door was locked and a window was broken with drapes blowing.
Officer Crown peeked through the broken window, moved drapes, and observed Hand holding a semi-automatic firearm and another man (Lewis) by a bedroom door; Crown announced his presence and Hand retreated into the bedroom and shut the door.
Officers ordered occupants out; Lewis and Hand were detained outside the residence and taken into custody. A woman on the steps identified the location and provided limited information about the dispute.
After Hand was removed, Officer Crown re-entered the residence, opened the bedroom door, and searched a closet where he found a loaded .380 Bersa handgun; matching ammunition was found on the steps.
Hand moved to suppress the firearm as the fruit of an illegal search; the trial court granted suppression. The Commonwealth appealed, and the Superior Court remanded for additional findings about whether the bedroom search qualified as a protective sweep. The trial court reaffirmed suppression and this appeal followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Officer Crown’s re-entry and search of the bedroom was a permissible protective sweep	Commonwealth: search was a protective sweep incident to arrest to ensure no other persons posed danger	Hand: once Hand and Lewis were detained outside, no reasonable suspicion supported a protective sweep of the bedroom	The search was not a permissible protective sweep; suppression affirmed

Maryland v. Buie, 494 U.S. 325 (protective sweep doctrine and limits)
Commonwealth v. Taylor, 771 A.2d 1261 (Pa. 2001) (applying Buie and describing two-level protective sweep analysis)
Commonwealth v. Potts, 73 A.3d 1275 (Pa. Super. 2013) (protective sweep standards and need for articulable facts)
Commonwealth v. Vetter, 149 A.3d 71 (Pa. Super. 2016) (standard of review on suppression appeal)
In re L.J., 79 A.3d 1073 (Pa. 2013) (deference to suppression court factual findings)