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Commonwealth v. Shaffer4/20/1998
ised April 23, 1998
This is an appeal by the Commonwealth from an order suppressing evidence gathered after a stop of appellee in New York State. The Commonwealth raises one issue for our determination, whether the court erred in not applying a "good faith" exception found in the New York Close Pursuit statute. We affirm.
The facts relevant to the present case are neither complicated nor contested. At approximately 2:38 A.M. on March 15, 1997, Trooper David Cannon of the Pennsylvania State Police observed a vehicle driven by appellee travelling at a high rate of speed on Route 5 in northeastern Pennsylvania not far from the New York State border. Trooper Cannon began following appellee and was able to ascertain his speed at approximately eighty-five (85) miles-per-hour (mph) in a fifty-five mph zone. Trooper Cannon activated his police lights and siren in an effort to get appellee to pull his vehicle over. However, appellee continued for approximately two miles until approximately .7 mile into New York at which point he stopped and Trooper Cannon approached his vehicle.
Trooper Cannon subsequently requested appellee to perform field sobriety tests which, in the judgment of Trooper Cannon, appellee failed. Appellee was then placed under arrest and transported back to Pennsylvania and charged with, inter alia, Driving Under the Influence . Appellee filed a motion to suppress based upon a violation of the New York Uniform Act on Close Pursuit, CPL 140.55. That Act provides, in relevant part:
2. Any peace officer of another state of the United States, who enters this state in close pursuit and continues in this state in such close pursuit of a person in order to arrest him, shall have the same authority to arrest and hold in custody such person on the ground that he has committed a crime in another state which is a crime under the laws of the state of New York, as police officers of this state have to arrest and hold in custody a person on the ground that he has committed a crime in this state.
3. If an arrest is made in this state by an officer of another state in accordance with the provisions of subdivision two, he shall without unnecessary delay take the person arrested before a local criminal court which shall conduct a hearing for the sole purpose of determining if the arrest was in accordance with the provisions of subdivision two, and not of determining the guilt or innocence of the arrested person. If such court determines that the arrest was in accordance with such subdivision, it shall commit the person arrested to the custody of the officer making the arrest, who shall without unnecessary delay take him to the state from which he fled. If such court determines that the arrest was unlawful, it shall discharge the person arrested.
As is readily apparent, the Act in question grants authority to make an arrest in New York State to a police officer of another state when that officer follows a person into New York in "close pursuit" for purposes of making an arrest. However, that Act requires that the officer making the arrest take the person arrested in New York State before a local criminal court "without unnecessary delay" whereupon the local court "shall conduct a hearing for the sole purpose of determining if the arrest was in accordance with the provisions of subdivision two,.... (Relating to close pursuit.) With the Commonwealth conceding a violation of the Act, the trial court granted appellee's motion to suppress over the Commonwealth's argument that the court should apply New York's "good faith" exception caselaw. The case was certified for appeal and the present appeal followed.
In our opinion the present case
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