Commonwealth v. E.W.

Police were patrolling the area of 5800 Trinity Street when they observed a male smoking marijuana on the sidewalk. Police claimed that as they exited their car (in full uniform) to investigate that male, E.W.quickly got into the front passenger seat of a parked car, pulled a gun out of his waistband and stuck it under his seat. The officers then activated their body cameras, removed E.W. from the car and recovered a gun from under his seat. E.W., who was on state parole, rejected the Commonwealth’s “offer” of 5-10 years in prison and filed a motion to suppress evidence. At the motion, the defense cross-examined the officers with cell phone video footage from another pedestrian and claimed the officers lacked probable cause to pull E.W. out of the car and to recover the gun. A judge agreed, finding the officers not credible, suppressing the gun from evidence. All charges will now be dismissed.