Commonwealth v. Dunlap

DISSENTING OPINION BY

JOHNSON, J.:

¶ 11 believe the Majority has misapplied governing caselaw in upholding the lower court’s refusal to suppress evidence obtained pursuant to a search for which the investigating officer lacked probable cause. Thus, I respectfully dissent.

¶ 2 The question whether probable cause exists in a given circumstance is so fact-intensive that well-settled legal principles in themselves offer cold comfort. Nowhere is this more plainly illustrated than in Commonwealth v. Lawson, which calls, in cases like the one before us, for consideration of circumstantial factors such…