Lead Opinion
We granted allocatur in this case to determine whether the Superior Court erred when it affirmed the trial court’s denial of a suppression motion, which alleged that the police officers had invalid third party consent to search the approved parole residence of Jerome Jason Hughes (Appellant). After reviewing the claims raised by Appellant, we affirm the decision of the Superior Court.
Facts and Procedural History
On June 24, 1999, Dauphin County Adult Parole Officer James Vines (Officer Vines) and City of Harrisburg Police Officer Kirk Aldrich (Officer Aldrich) noticed Appellant standing on a corner outside of a bar while they were patrolling an
Officer Vines thought that Appellant probably went to the residence approved for his parole located at 115 North 13th Street and, therefore, traveled to that location. At around ten o’clock p.m., when the officers arrived at the parole residence, there were several teenage girls standing on the front porch. The officers asked the girls if Appellant was home and the girls responded that he was not there. Officer Vines inquired if he and Officer Aldrich
Once inside the residence, the officers saw yellow headphones similar to the ones that they noticed Appellant wearing earlier in the evening outside of the bar. Officers Vines and Aldrich walked throughout the house looking for Appellant. They looked in his bedroom on the first floor. When they stepped into Appellant’s bedroom, they immediately noticed a clear plastic sandwich bag containing marijuana on the headboard of the bed. They also found a blue tinted Ziploc® bag filled with marijuana and another plastic bag containing numerous empty plastic bags.
At that point, the officers determined that they did not want to look for more evidence of drugs and drug paraphernalia until they obtained consent to search Appellant’s bedroom from Tracey Griffin (Griffin), the owner of the house. When Griffin arrived, she consented to a full search of the house. The officers thoroughly searched the bedroom of Appellant and found 2.41 grams of crack cocaine, a cellular phone, and a pager hidden in a bedroom closet.
Police arrested Appellant and on December 2, 1999, charged him with two counts of Possession With Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance
On September 13, 2000, Appellant filed a Motion in Limine in an attempt to prevent the Commonwealth from mentioning his prior drug convictions, alleged parole violations, or any hearsay statements identifying him as the owner of seized property. The trial court granted the motion with regard to the prior criminal record of Appellant, but ruled that any evidence concerning his parole status would be admissible for the purpose of showing how Officer Vines knew Appellant and why he went to meet with Appellant at his approved parole address.
On September 15, 2000, a jury found Appellant guilty on all three counts. The trial court sentenced him to an aggregate sentence of four-to-eleven years’ imprisonment. On January 10, 2001, the trial court denied the post-sentence motions filed by Appellant. Appellant appealed to the Superior Court. In a Memorandum Opinion, the Superior Court affirmed the Judgment of Sentence imposed by the trial court.
In affirming the decision of the trial court, however, the Superior Court disagreed with the analysis advanced by the Commonwealth that the parole status of Appellant and his alleged violations alone provided sufficient authority to search his bedroom, considering that parolees have a diminished expectation of privacy. The Superior Court determined that the officers did have reasonable suspicion to believe that Appellant violated his parole, but that the search of his residence for drugs did not reasonably relate to his parole violations for failing to begin community service and maintain employment, or to the parole officer’s duty in confirming them. Furthermore, the Superior Court
Nonetheless, the Superior Court upheld the search as reasonable pursuant to the “apparent authority exception” to the exclusionary rule. The Superior Court has consistently held that warrantless searches based upon the reasonable belief of a police officer that the third party who has given consent to the officers to search has actual authority, will be upheld as reasonable even though that belief was mistaken. Superior Court Slip Op. at 7; Commonwealth v. Quites,
Judge Klein, in a dissenting opinion, stated that he agreed with the majority opinion that a search should be upheld where a police officer reasonably, although mistakenly, believes that a third party has actual authority to consent. Nevertheless, Judge Klein would have determined that it was unreasonable for the police officers in this case to believe that several teenage girls standing on the porch of a house at ten o’clock at night had the requisite authority to consent to a search of the residence.
Discussion
As previously noted, the issue in this case is whether the Superior Court erred when it affirmed the trial court’s denial of a suppression motion made by Appellant alleging that the police officers had invalid third party consent to search his approved parole residence. The resolution of this issue requires an analysis of: (1) the “apparent authority exception” to the exclusionary rule; (2) the proper application of this exception pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution; and (3) whether such an exception is consistent with the Pennsylvania Constitution and past Pennsylvania jurisprudence.
The standard and scope of review for a challenge to the denial of a suppression motion is “whether the factual findings are supported by the record and whether the legal conclusions drawn from those facts are correct.” Commonwealth v. Hawkins,
Appellant contends that the Superior Court erred in affirming the trial court’s denial of his Suppression Motion, because the search conducted by the police officers was allegedly improper due to their failure to obtain legally sufficient consent to enter the residence. The Commonwealth argues that the officers had lawful authority to enter the approved parole residence of Appellant and search for him, considering his outstanding parole violations.
Parole Exception
The parole status of Appellant is significant because a parolee has a diminished expectation of privacy and the Fourth Amendment protections of a parolee are more limited than the protections afforded the average citizen. Griffin v. Wisconsin,
Despite the diminished expectation of privacy afforded parolees, the Superior Court correctly determined that the officers in this case may not have had sufficient grounds to conduct a parole search of the approved residence of Appellant. In Williams, this Court ruled that by signing a parole agreement, a parolee has provided limited consent for a parole officer to conduct reasonable searches of his home. Id. at 1036. A search is only reasonable where the totality of the circumstances demonstrates that: (1) the parole officer had reasonable suspicion to believe that the parolee committed a parole violation; and (2) the search was reasonably related to the duty of the parole officer. Id. The officers in the matter sub júdice had reasonable suspicion to believe that Appellant violated his parole; they knew that he failed to start community service, that he was unemployed, and that he had a recent arrest. Nonetheless, the search of his approved parole residence may not have been reasonably related to any of these violations or to the duty of the parole officer in confirming them. Therefore, it may appear that the officers did not have sufficient grounds to conduct a parole search.
If the officers did not have sufficient grounds to conduct a parole search, we must next consider whether the Superior Court correctly affirmed the determination of the trial court that it was reasonable for the officers to believe that the girls on the porch had authority to consent.
Third Party Consent to a Search Exception
Appellant avers that the police officers violated his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Both the federal and Pennsylvania constitutions permit third party consent to a search. Schneckloth; Commonwealth v. Latshaw,
Apparent Authority Exception
In Illinois v. Rodriguez,
[bjecause many situations which confront officers in the course of executing their duties are more or less ambiguous, room must be allowed for some mistakes on their part. But the mistakes must be those of reasonable men, acting on facts leading sensibly to their conclusions of probability.
Id. at 186,
[a]s with other factual determinations bearing upon search and seizure, determination of consent to enter must be judged against an objective standard: would the facts available to the officer at the moment ... warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that the consenting party had authority over the premises? If not, then warrantless entry without further inquiry is unlawful unless authority actually exists. But if so, the search is valid.
Id. at 188-189,
In this case, the officers approached the approved parole residence of Appellant. Once they arrived, they noticed three teenage girls standing on the porch. They inquired whether Appellant was home and the girls responded that he was not. When Officer Vines asked the girls whether he and Officer Aldrich could enter the home and look for Appellant, they responded, “no problem,” and opened the door for them. Notes of Testimony (N.T.), 4/28/00, at 11-12. The girls voluntarily gave the officers consent to enter the home; they did not hesitate in giving the officers their consent — they even opened the door to the residence for the officers. Additionally, the girls followed the officers into the house. The actions of the girls provided the officers with the reasonable belief that the girls possessed common authority over the premises permitting them to provide valid consent to enter the residence. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution only requires police officers to act reasonably when determining whether authority to consent is present. We believe that Officers Vines and Aldrich acted reasonably. Therefore, we conclude that based on the totality of the circumstances, the police officers reasonably believed that the teenage girls standing on the porch had valid authority to allow them to enter the house. Appellant’s argument, therefore, fails pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Because we have determined that apparent authority existed pursuant to the Federal Constitution we must now conduct an independent analysis of the Pennsylvania Constitution to determine whether Article I, Section 8 affords Appellant more protection than its federal counterpart. Whether a search is valid where an officer is reasonably mistaken as to the actual authority of the party that consented to his entry into the premises is an issue of first impression for this Court.
Although the language utilized in Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution is similar to that in the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the decisions of the United States Supreme Court are not dispositive of questions regarding the rights guaranteed to citizens of this Commonwealth pursuant to the Pennsylvania Constitution. Commonwealth v.Tarbert,
[h]ere in Pennsylvania, we have stated with increasing frequency that it is both important and necessary that we undertake an independent analysis of the Pennsylvania Constitution each time a provision of that fundamental document is implicated. Although we may accord weight to federal decisions where they are found to be logically persuasive and well reasoned, paying due regard to precedent and the policies underlying specific constitutional guarantees, we are free to reject the conclusions of the United States Supreme Court so long as we remain faithful to the minimum guarantees established by the United States Constitution.
Id. at 894-895.
This Court considers the following four factors when establishing whether the Pennsylvania Constitution affords greater protection than the Federal Constitution:
(1) text of the Pennsylvania constitutional provision;
(2) History of the provision, including Pennsylvania case-law;
(3) related case-law from other states; [and]
(4) policy considerations, including unique issues of state and local concern, and applicability within modern Pennsylvania jurisprudence.
Id. at 895.
When examining the text of Article I, Section 8, this Court has repeatedly stated that this constitutional provision embodies a strong notion of privacy, and has held that the section often provides greater protection than the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution because “the core of its exclusionary rule is grounded in the protection of privacy while the federal exclusionary rule is grounded in deterring police misconduct.” Williams,
In Edmunds, this Court addressed the question of whether Pennsylvania should adopt the “good faith exception” to the exclusionary rule as articulated by the Supreme Court of the United States in United States v. Leon,
The “apparent authority exception” stems from the “third party consent to a search exception” to the exclusionary rule. When police officers obtain the voluntary consent of a third party, who has the authority to give consent, they are not required to obtain a search warrant based on probable cause. Commonwealth v. Stanley,
The Superior Court has adopted the “apparent authority exception.” Superior Court Slip Op. at 7; see Commonwealth v. Quiles,
We are persuaded by the majority of state courts that have adopted the reasoning of the Supreme Court of the United States and determined that apparent authority alone is sufficient. See State v. Licari, 659 M.W.2d 243 (Minn.2003) (apparent authority alone exists if authority claimed by third party would, if true, be sufficient to satisfy the legal test for actual authority); State v. Taylor,
The rationale for this approach derives from the fact that the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures and, therefore, if the police officers act in a reasonable manner in response to the situation with which they are confronted, an error in judgment regarding the actual authority of a person to consent to a search would not give rise to an unreasonable search. But see State v. McLees,
While we recognize that Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution affords our citizens greater protections than the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, we do not believe that requiring apparent authority alone is inconsistent with our Constitution. Article I, Section 8 provides that people must be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Because the officers’ belief that they obtained consent from a third party who had common authority over a premises must be reasonable for the “apparent authority exception” to apply, police officers should not be required to obtain a search warrant based upon probable cause where they have apparent authority to conduct a search. A person’s privacy rights are no more violated when a third party with actual authority to consent permits police officers to enter a residence than when a person at the house with apparent authority consents to the entry of the police officers into the premises.
Nevertheless, we need not reach the question of whether the “apparent authority exception” should be applied in situations involving the average citizen because Appellant is a parolee and, consequently, he has a diminished expectation of privacy. See Williams, supra. We have determined that the Pennsylvania Constitution provides a parolee with no greater protection than the United States Constitution in the area of warrantless searches where the parolee has signed a parole agreement in which the parolee agreed to the search of his premises as a condition to the parole. Id. Because we conclude that evidence obtained as a result of the search conducted by Officers Vines and Aldrich should be upheld pursuant to the Federal Constitution, we now hold that this evidence must also be upheld pursuant to the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Conclusion
Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the Superior Court that affirmed the trial court’s denial of the suppression motion filed by Appellant.
Notes
. These violations included his failure to begin community service, inability to remain employed, and recent arrest. Superior Court Slip Op. at 1.
. 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(30).
. 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(32).
. The Commonwealth did not cross-appeal the decision of the Superior Court because, as the prevailing party, the Commonwealth cannot be said to have been aggrieved by the decision. See Commonwealth v. Polo,
. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides that:
the righl of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effect, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
. Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution mandates that: the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things shall issue without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation subscribed to by the affiant.
. Indeed, two of the four states cited by this Court in Edmunds, which rejected the good faith exception, have adopted the apparent authority exception. See State v. Maristany,
. The opinion of the Superior Court in Blair was written prior to this Court’s decision in Edmunds, which explained that the exclusionary rule in Pennsylvania is not based on deterrence. Quiles was decided after Edmunds, however, the Superior Court distinguished the good faith exception and the apparent authority exception.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
I agree with Mr. Chief Justice Cappy’s analysis regarding the majority’s application of the apparent authority exception under the present circumstances. See Dissenting Opinion at 470-72,
As a threshold matter, in the absence of consent or a statutory framework, the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the warrantless search of a parolee’s residence based upon reasonable suspicion. See Commonwealth v. Pickron,
In my view, the search of Appellant’s approved parole residence was valid under both. Initially, there is no dispute that Officer Vines had reasonable suspicion to believe that Appellant violated his parole. See Majority Opinion, at 458,
. Act of Aug. 6, 1941, P.L. 861, No. 323, § 27.2, added by Act of Nov. 17, 1995, P.L. 1139, No. 35 (Spec. Sess. No. 1), § 1 (codified at 61 P.S. § 331.27b).
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
The Commonwealth offered two theories in resisting Appellant’s suppression motion below: (1) that the search was lawful given the reduced expectation of privacy on the part of parolees and the authority given to parole agents to conduct warrantless searches codified at Section 27.2b(b) of the Act of August 6, 1941, P.L. 861, No. 323, added by the Act of November 17, 1995, P.L. 1139, No. 35, 61 P.S. § 331.27b; and (2) the third party consent to enter the residence given by the teenage girls who opened the door and accompanied the officers into the building. The trial court, the
As Judge Klein reasoned in dissent below, the officers here had no objective reason to believe that the teenage girls possessed authority to consent to the search. Neither did the officers pose any questions to the girls in an attempt to explore the nature and origin of any authority they might possess. All that was known was that the girls were present outside the residence and that they opened the (apparently unlocked) door and accompanied the officers inside. These facts include no objective indicia of consensual authority. Moreover, the knowledge of Parole Officer Vines concerning Appellant’s familial and living circumstances provided no basis for and, in fact, militated strongly against any conclusion that these girls possessed such authority.
On the other hand, the circumstances (including Appellant’s presence at a nearby corner just minutes earlier wearing distinctive yellow headphones and the observation of those same headphones immediately inside the residence) were more than sufficient to indicate that Appellant was present somewhere within the residence. However, as it reasonably appeared to the officers, the teenage girls, for reasons unknown, were falsely denying Appellant’s presence. In my view, these facts are sufficient, in the case of a parolee like Appellant who has consented in advance to warrantless searches of his residence by his parole agent, to justify a cursory inspection of each room of the residence, beginning with Appellant’s room, sufficient only to determine whether Appellant was present. It appears that this is the course taken by the officers. The officers’ plan to discuss with Appellant his recent reported parole violations was a legitimate part of the investigation of “violations of the conditions of supervision” for which authority to conduct a warrantless search of a parolee’s property has been granted by 61 P.S. § 331.27b(d)(2). Moreover, the circumstances expressly justifying the conduct of a warrantless search of a parolee’s residence by a parole officer as codified at 61 P.S. § 331.27b(d)(6)(viii) include “[t]he need to verify compliance with the conditions of supervision”; precisely the subject on which the officers here wished to question Appellant. I would hold that the decision of the suppression court was correct on these grounds.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
Unequivocal, specific, and voluntary consent will validate an otherwise illegal search. Commonwealth v. Gibson,
In this case, the officers approached the residence at night and saw two or more young girls standing on the porch.
The majority relies on the actions of the girls as providing the officers with a reasonable belief that the girls possessed the authority to consent to the officers’ entry into the residence. The majority holds the girls’ actions of opening the door for the officers and following them in as justifying the officers’ mistaken belief of authority. (Majority opinion at 461,
I disagree with the majority. I believe that under these circumstances, a reasonable person would question whether the girls had actual authority to consent. First, the individuals who provided consent in this case were minors. Second, upon the arrival of the officers, the individuals were outside the residence. Additionally, one of the officers was Appellant’s parole officer who had been to the residence on at least four prior occasions and had never seen these or any other young girls at the residence. The officer testified that to his knowledge Appellant, his girlfriend, and his girlfriend’s mother, the owner of the house, were the only residents living there. Moreover, as the majority acknowledges, the officers halted their search of the residence prior to entering Appellant’s bedroom to await consent from the owner of the residence.
. Although this Court has not previously addressed this exception, the Superior Court has addressed it in Commonwealth v. Blair,
. The officers were unsure of how many young girls were on the porch at the time. The first officer testified only that there was more than one girl, while the second officer testified that there were three. The second officer also testified that he thought the girls were between the ages of 12 and 14. (Suppression hearing, 4/28/2000 at 18 and 32, 33).
. Further, I do not accept the position of Mr. Justice Lamb as set forth in his concurring opinion. This search was not justified under the reduced expectation of privacy afforded parolees. On this point I join in the majority’s conclusion that Appellant's status as a parolee does not impact the decision in this case as it does not appear that the parole officers possessed reasonable suspicion that Appellant committed a parole violation sufficient to justify a parole search. (Majority opinion at 458-60,