Commonwealth v. D.P.

Police pulled over D.P.’s car at 5500 Rising Sun Avenue for excessive window tint, claiming they were unable to see into his car. During the car stop, officers claimed that D.P. was visibly nervous and was “moving around” excessively. Although wearing body cameras, this part of the stop was not recorded. Police went back to their vehicle, ran his name and saw that he did not have any warrants, which made them question why he was so nervous. The officers decided to go back to D.P.’s car, remove him and frisk him for weapons. During the frisk, officers recovered a 9mm Polymer 80 “ghost gun” with a laser site attachment. The defense filed a motion to suppress the gun and argued that the police lacked reasonable suspicion that D.P was armed and dangerous. After cross-examination and hearing argument, a judge agreed with the defense, found the officers lacked credibility, and suppressed the firearm from evidence. The Commonwealth was forced to withdraw all charges against D.P.