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Commonwealth v. Minnich5/9/2005
1 In this appeal, Appellant, Kyle M. Minnich, challenges his judgment of sentence imposed by the Honorable John H. Chronister of the Court of Common Pleas of York County following his conviction of the summary offense of driving while under suspension for a prior conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol. Specifically, Appellant asks us to decide whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence recovered after a traffic stop in York County, Pennsylvania. The trial court, sitting as a suppression court, found that the police officer's testimony describing his observations of how Appellant's driving risked causing an accident was sufficient to justify the stop. We hold that the trial court properly denied Appellant's motion to suppress, and, accordingly, we affirm the judgment of sentence.
2 The charge against Appellant resulted from a traffic stop initiated by York Area Regional Police Department Officer Ray Krzywulak just before midnight on December 15, 2003, when the officer was on patrol southbound on Springwood Road in York Township, Pennsylvania. The officer observed Appellant driving northbound on Springwood Road around a curve, and watched as he crested a hill. When Officer Krzywulak made a traffic stop of Appellant, he discovered that Appellant had a suspended driver's license.
3 Following a stipulated trial on February 17, 2004, in the District Court of Dallastown, Appellant was found guilty and sentenced. On March 9, 2004, Appellant filed an appeal with the Court of Common Pleas of York County. At the hearing thereon, Appellant filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained after the stop of Appellant's vehicle on the basis that the stop was improper. Judge Chronister denied Appellant's motion, and at the conclusion of the hearing, upheld the district court decision, finding Appellant guilty of driving while under suspension for a prior conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol. Judge Chronister sentenced Appellant to ninety (90) days' incarceration and imposed a $1,000 fine.
4 On appeal, Appellant presents the following issue for our consideration:
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FINDING THAT THE ARRESTING OFFICER ARTICULATED SUFFICIENT PROBABLE CAUSE AND/OR REASONABLE SUSPICION TO STOP THE VEHICLE BEING OPERATED BY APPELLANT. (Appellant's Brief at 4).
5 Appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. In support thereof, Appellant suggests that a close review of the officer's testimony reveals that he made no observation to support the allegation that Appellant was driving too fast for conditions or that there was any real danger or risk of causing an accident, reasons relied upon by the trial court in arriving at its decision to convict.
(Id. at 10).
6 As a prefatory matter, we are mindful of the following:
Our standard of review in addressing a challenge to a trial court's denial of a suppression motion is limited to determining whether the factual findings are supported by the record and whether the legal conclusions drawn from those facts are correct. Since the prosecution prevailed in the suppression court, we may consider only the evidence of the prosecution and so much of the evidence for the defense as remains uncontradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole. Where the record supports the factual findings of the trial court, we are bound by those facts and may reverse only if the legal conclusions drawn therefrom are in error. Commonwealth v. Blair, 860 A.2d 567, 571 (Pa.Super. 2004) (quoting Commonwealth v. Bomar, 573 Pa. 426, 445, 826 A.2d 831, 842 (2003), cert. denied, 540
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