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Commonwealth v. Spencer11/14/2005
1 John W. Spencer appeals from the judgment of sentence entered against him in the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County on December 31, 2004 after being found guilty of driving under the influence (DUI). Spencer appeals claiming the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and also claims the Motor Vehicle Code does not require the use of a turn signal when merely changing lanes. We affirm.
2 The police action in stopping the car and discovering that Spencer was intoxicated rested on a call from a named source in a telephone call that turned out to be Spencer's estranged wife. She phoned the police and told the operator Spencer was coming from a bar and was staggering when he got into the car. Hence the car stop. At trial Spencer's wife said she had lied when she told police Spencer was staggering. Whether what she said was true or not is irrelevant. The purpose of the exclusionary rule is to deter police misconduct and protect citizens' privacy from improper police activity, not citizen misconduct if the citizen is not an agent of the police. On the basis of the information from a named informant, the police were justified in making a car stop. Hence we need not reach the issue as to whether it was appropriate to stop a car because Spencer changed lanes without using a turn signal.
3 A full discussion follows.
Facts
4 At approximately 7:02 p.m. on April 12, 2003, Julie Spencer called 911 and reported seeing a white male exit a bar and stagger down the sidewalk. The male got into a red Ford 150 pickup truck and drove westbound on West Lancaster Avenue. Spencer also told the 911 operator the license plate number of the truck. Spencer identified herself to the 911 operator and also identified the vantage point from which she observed the behavior. What Julie Spencer did not tell the 911 operator was the fact she was the estranged wife of the man she saw leaving the bar.
5 Shortly thereafter, Police Officer Faul of the Caln Township Police Department saw the red pickup truck approach him from the opposite direction. After the pickup truck passed Officer Faul he turned his police cruiser around and followed the vehicle. He confirmed the license plate on the truck as matching the one reported to 911. Although the truck did not weave or exhibit any other similar sign of erratic driving, the truck did change lanes without signaling. Officer Faul contacted Police Officer Fentner of the Downingtown Police by radio and told her he was behind the truck in question and had witnessed what he believed was a violation of 75 Pa.C.S. § 3334 (changing lanes without signaling). Officer Fentner asked Officer Faul to pull the vehicle over, which he did. Officer Fentner arrived on the scene in under a minute.
6 After Officer Fentner approached the truck, she smelled alcohol on the driver, John Spencer. She then administered several field sobriety tests to Spencer, three of which he failed. Spencer was arrested for DUI. Subsequently it was determined he had a blood alcohol level of .16.
7 Although the information regarding Julie Spencer was on Officer Fentner's computer screen, the officer did not specifically know the identity of the original complaining witness.
8 Spencer filed a motion to suppress, claiming the police did not have probable cause to stop Spencer. A hearing was held on the motion on September 24, 2003. Both Officers Faul and Fentner testified at that hearing. Julie Spencer, although available to testify, was not called by either the Commonwealth or Spencer. At no time during the hearing or in his subsequently filed memorandum in support of the motion to suppress did Spencer cl
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