Commonwealth v. D.G.

Pennsylvania State Police pulled D.G. over on I-76 due to the fact that he had a “dead tag” on the car he was driving. Prior to towing the car, the troopers conducted an inventory search of the car and found a handgun that was wrapped in a barber’s apron hidden in a storage compartment behind the front passenger seat. Because the car was owned by D.G.’s fiancé and the gun was within reach of D.G., he was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm. At the preliminary hearing the defense asserted that the Commonwealth failed to prove that D.G knew the gun was in the car. Furthermore, the defense presented records from the Philadelphia police department indicating that D.G.’s car had been stolen just one week prior, and that it was returned to D.G.’s fiancé without being searched. Therefore, it was likely that the thief had left the gun behind. A judge agreed and dismissed all charges.