Legal Opinion
Commonwealth v. Matos
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Decided February 26, 1996No. 23, 27 and 33 Eastern District Appeal Docket 1994PublishedCited by 193 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
MAJORITY OPINION
CAPPY, Justice.1
The three instant appeals were consolidated for oral argument and will be disposed of together in this opinion since they raise a single identical issue; namely, whether contraband discarded by a person fleeing a police officer are the fruits of an illegal “seizure” where the officer possessed neither “probable cause” to arrest the individual nor reasonable suspicion to stop the individual and conduct a Terry frisk.2 In each case, we reverse the Superior Court and hold that the discarded contraband must be suppressed.
The relevant facts of each case shall be set…
2Cases cited32 opinions
- Terry v. OhioSupreme Court of the United States · 1968
- United States v. LeonSupreme Court of the United States · 1984
- United States v. MendenhallSupreme Court of the United States · 1980
- California v. Hodari D.Supreme Court of the United States · 1991
- Commonwealth v. EdmundsSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1991
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3Cited by193 opinions
- Commonwealth v. StricklerSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 2000
- In the Interest of D.M.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 2001
- Commonwealth v. CookSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1999
- Commonwealth v. GarySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 2014
- Commonwealth v. ChaseSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 2008
188 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.