Commonwealth v. Brown

BECK, Judge:

The single issue in this case concerns the authority of police to order a passenger out of a car stopped for a traffic violation. We hold that an officer, when making a lawful stop of a motor vehicle, may order the occupants out of the car *518despite the lack of a reasonable suspicion that the passengers are engaged in criminal activity.

The testimony presented at trial established the following. Appellant Timothy Brown was employed at a Dunkin’ Donuts store located in the Fox Chase area of Philadelphia. Sometime in October, 1991 appellant quit his job and then encountered difficulty…