Lead Opinion
OPINION ANNOUNCING THE JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
James Gillespie challenges his conviction under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105 (persons not to possess, use, manufacture, control, sell or transfer firearms). He argues the shotgun he possessed did not fall within the definition of “firearm,” and further
On August 8, 1999, Pennsylvania State Police received a complaint from a neighbor that appellant, a convicted felon, possessed a firearm. After vеrifying this information by checking appellant’s criminal record, two uniformed officers interviewed the neighbor at his apartment, across the hall from appellant’s residence. The neighbor stated he had seen appellant with a gun earlier that day.
At approximately 10:23 p.m., police knocked on appellant’s door. When his wife answered, the officers asked to speak with appellant; she allowed the officers to enter. Inside, appellant, his wife, and two other people were present. The officers informed appellant about the complaint against him and invited him to discuss it outside. Appellant told the officers they could speak to him where they were. The officers told appellant there was a complaint he had been carrying a firearm earlier in the day, and asked if there was a firearm in the residence. Appellant, “[i]n a loud, vulgar manner,” stated it was none of the officers’ business whether he had a gun or not. N.T., 3/17/00, at 10. The officers then asked if they could search the residence. Appellant responded “not without a warrant,” and told the officers to leave. One officer described Appellant’s conduct as “violent and belligerent.” Id.
The officers told appellant they were going to have to ask him, his wife, and his guests to leave the residence so the officers could secure it while a warrant was sought. Appellant “jumped up and started yelling and pointing his finger at [one officer’s] face.” Id., at 11. In response, the officer handcuffed him, and repeated he was going to get a warrant. With that, appellant stated there was a loaded gun in the bedroom. The other officer went to the bedroom and found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun with a 24-inch barrel just inside the door.
Appellant was charged with violating 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105(a). He filеd a pretrial motion to suppress the evidence; the motion was denied. The trial court, sitting without a jury,
Section 6105(a)(1) provides, “[a] person who has been convicted of an [enumerated] offense ... shall not possess, use, control, sell, transfer or manufacture or obtain a license to possess, use, control, sell, transfer or manufacture a firearm in this Commonwealth.” Section 6105 contains the following definition of “firearm”: “[ajs used in this section only, the term ‘firearm’ shall include any weapons which are designed to or may readily be converted to expel any projectile by the action of an explosive or the frame or receiver of any such weapon.” Id., at § 6105(i) (emphasis added).
Section 6102 has a more restrictive definition of “firearm”: [sjubject to additional definitions contained in subsequent provisions of this subchapter which are applicable to specific provisions of this subchapter, the following words and phrases, when used in this subchapter shall have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings given to them in this section:
* * *
“Firearm.” Any pistol оr revolver with a barrel length less than 15 inches, any shotgun with a barrel length less than 18 inches or any rifle with a barrel length less than 16 inches, or any pistol, revolver, rifle or shotgun with an overall length of less than 26 inches. The barrel length of a firearm shall be determined by measuring from the muzzle of the barrel to the face of the closed action, bolt or cylinder, whichever is applicable.
Id., at § 6102 (emphasis added).
Appellant argues the Commonwealth did not prove his weapon was a “firearm,” because his shotgun’s barrel alone was 24 inches; under § 6102, a shotgun must have a barrel length of less than 18 inches, or an overall length of less than
Appellant relies upon Commonwealth v. Todd,
In 1995, however, the General Assembly amended the Act. Section 6102’s definition of “firearm” was amended to include the word “length” following the word “barrel,” and § 6105 was completely rewritten to include its current definition of “firearm.” Appellant argues the addition of thе word “length” to § 6102 evinces the legislature’s intent that barrel length remain an essential element of all firearms offenses, and asks this Court to interpret § 6105(i)’s definition as merely adding to § 6102’s definition. However, § 6105(i) explicitly states its broader definition of “firearm” is to be “... used in this section only,” which pertains to convicted criminals. Clearly the definition in § 6105 is there for a reason, which is to settle what a former convict may not possess.
The current version of § 6105 also expandеd the class of convictions from “crime[s] of violence” to include certain potentially violent crimes. See 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105(b). The clear purpose of § 6105 is to protect the public from convicted criminals who possess firearms, regardless of whether the previous crimes were actually violent or the barrel of the firearm was a certain length. Indeed, during the legislative session regarding the bill which amended the Uniform Firearms Act, the following commentary was made:
*106 [Highlights of this crime control proposal are as follows: It expands the categories of persons who commit a crime if they possess, use, control, sell, transfer, or manufacture any firearm, long or short, to include persons convicted of a range of violent or potentially violent crimes____
Legis. J. House Special Session No. 1 (Pa. June 5, 1995), at 286 (emphasis added).
The broader definition of “firearm” in § 6105 was intended as a substitute for the narrower definition in § 6102, when dealing with possession by a convicted criminal. Section 6102 specifically states its definition of “firearm” is “[s]ubject to additional definitions contained in subsequent provisions of this subchapter----” 18 Pa.C.S. § 6102. Merely adding § 6105’s projectile/explosion requirement to § 6102, as appellant suggests, would be redundant, since any weapons with barrel lengths specified in that section are already capable of expelling a projectile by an еxplosive action. It must be presumed the legislature did not intend an absurd or unreasonable result. 1 Pa.C.S. § 1922(1); Commonwealth v. Martorano,
The definition of “firearm” in § 6105(i) includes any weapon capable of discharging a projectile by means of explosion, regardless of the weapon’s barrel length. Because barrel length is no longer an essential element of the offense under § 6105, Todd and its progeny are not relevant to cases involving the revised statute. Accordingly, the evidence is sufficient to support appellant’s conviction under § 6105.
Appellant next argues the trial court erred when it refused to suppress the shotgun. Voluntary consent to search is an exception to the general rule that a warrantless search of a residence is per se unreasonable. Commonwealth v. Gibson,
Appellant contends his consent was coerced by the officers.
Nor was there coercion thereafter. The officers told appellant they would seek a warrant; in order to secure the residence, they requested everyone wait outside while a warrant was sought. Appellant immediately became belligerent and aggressive, cursing at the officers and pointing his finger in their faces. This spontaneous outburst was in response to a legitimate act by the officers; securing the premises was an appropriate response to his exercise of his right to demand a warrant. That exercise, however, triggered the need to secure the premises, for obtaining a warrant takes time.
Legitimate police activity can hardly be coercion. By his belligerence, appellant talked himself into being handcuffed in order to secure him and the premises until a warrant could be obtained. The police did not try to bully him; it was the other way around. The fact he spontaneously blurted out the shotgun’s location was not in response to any police threats or coercive tactics.
The officers’ request that appellant leave his home so it could be secured while they obtained a warrant is another factor which must be evaluated in examining the totality of the circumstances surrounding appellant’s consent. The Unitеd States Supreme Court has held if probable cause exists to support the issuance of a warrant, police may secure the residence of an individual by having him wait outside his home to preserve the loss of evidence while a warrant is diligently sought. See Illinois v. McArthur,
In McArthur, police had probable cause to believe the defendant had drugs in his home, but no warrant. The defendant refused the officers entry when they knocked on his door, but came out onto the рorch to speak with them. He was told by the officers that he could not reenter his home unless accompanied by an officer; he went back in several
The United States Supreme Court reversed, holding the kind of temporary seizure at issue did not violate the Fourth Amendment’s “central requirement” of “reasonableness.” Id., at 330,
Here, unlike McArthur, the officers never actually restricted appellant’s access to his home, for upon being told he would have to go outside while police obtained a warrant, appellant became belligerent, then blurted out the location of the weapon. While the Fourth Amendment permits the type of temporary seizure of the home at issue in McArthur;
We conclude that, under the circumstances in the present case, the officers’ acts wеre not unreasonable under the Pennsylvania Constitution. As we have already stated, the officers had good reason to believe appellant had a firearm in his home, and although this evidence was not as readily destructible as drugs, there was the more significant danger that appellant, in his agitated and violent state, could use the weapon. Therefore, telling appellant he would have to step outside until a warrant could be оbtained was reasonable, to ensure the safety of the officers and the others in the home, and in the building. This was not a coercive tactic designed to procure appellant’s consent; rather, it was a reasonable reaction to the aggressive behavior of a person suspected of illegally possessing a firearm.
The officers did not restrain appellant in order to coerce his consent; at this point, cooperation was clearly not in the cards, and asking him to leave and cuffing him could hardly be designed to inspire that cooperation. While appellant was restrained, the officers did not question him; they merely reiterated the premises had to be secured until a warrant was obtained. Appellant spontaneously stated the loaded gun was in the bedroom, which the officers reasonably understood as the grant of permission to entеr that room and seize the gun. The fact appellant reacted in a way that necessitáted his restraint while a warrant was sought does not render his subsequent statement involuntary.
Finally, the fact appellant knew the gun would eventually be discovered if a warrant was obtained does not vitiate his consent. This Court has rejected the argument that consent is involuntary simply because it is given at a time when the defendant knows a search will produce evidence of a
Thus, after assessing the totality of the circumstances, the suppression court did not err when it found appellant voluntarily gave the officers permission to search his bedroom for the firearm.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
Notes
. In his reply brief, appellant expands his challenge by alleging he was unlawfully seized by the police. Given his belligerent behavior and the crime involved, we cannot find that restraining appellant was unreasonable, much less unlawful; this restraint is only relevant as it impacts the evaluation of the voluntariness of his consent. Even if restraining appellant was the functional equivalent of an arrest, no single fact has talismanic significance, and custody alone does not render consent involuntary. Commonwealth v. Smith,
. See also Segura v. United States,
Concurrence Opinion
CONCURRING AND DISSENTING.
Like Justice Saylor, I join the majority’s disposition on the issue involving the definition of a firearm under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105(i). However, as I believe the police clearly violated Appеllant’s constitutional rights by ordering him to leave his own home while they obtained a search warrant, I simply cannot join that portion of the majority opinion that upholds the trial court’s denial of Appellant’s motion to suppress.
In reaching its conclusion that the officers’ ordering of Appellant to leave his home was reasonable, the majority cites to Illinois v. McArthur,
In my view, once Appellant instructed the police to leave his home, the police no longer had any right to be in Appellant’s home, and certainly had no right to order Appellant to leave his home while the police sought out a warrant. By holding otherwise, the majority turns on its head the long-standing precedent of this Court that the sanctity of the home is “the place deserving the utmost protection pursuant to the Fourth Amendment.” Commonwealth v. Gindlesperger,
Concurrence Opinion
CONCURRING AND DISSENTING.
I join the majority opinion’s analysis and disposition on the issue involving the definition of a firearm under Section 6105(i) of the Crimes Code, 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105(i). Concerning the assessment of the factors bearing upon the voluntariness of Appellant’s consent to search, however, I do not believe that the majority affords sufficient weight to the coercivе circumstances.
At the same time, as the majority notes, there exist certain non-coercive circumstances, such as, the fact that the interaction with police occurred in Appellant’s home, that he was aware of his right to refuse consent and, indeed, initially exercised such right. In addition, I would also distinguish the detention of Appellant in this case from those instances where the consent to search follows custody occurring in connection with a traffic stop, see, e.g., Commonwealth v. Freeman,
. See generally 3 Wayne R. Lafave, Search and Seizure. A Treatise on the Fourth Amendment, § 8.2(c), at 651-54 nn. 74-88 (collecting cases and explaining that a threat to obtain a search warrant is not per se coercive).