Commonwealth v. Mears

HESTER, Judge:

Appellant John Mears was found guilty of carrying a firearm without a license and carrying a firearm in a public street in the Municipal Court of Philadelphia. A petition for a writ of certiorari to the Court of Common Pleas was denied and this appeal followed. The sole issue before us is the propriety of the search of appellant’s person which resulted in the seizure of the firearm.

The facts may be briefly stated. In the late afternoon of July 12, 1978, Officer Thomas Pryor and John Herron of the Philadelphia Police Department were on duty in plainclothes and in an unmarked car.…