Commonwealth v. Yim

195 A.3d 922

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania

v.Justin YIM, Appellant

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

v.Justin W. Yim, Appellant

No. 3118 EDA 2017

No. 3184 EDA 2017

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted June 18, 2018

Filed September 12, 2018

Brian J. Zeiger, Philadelphia, for appellant.

Katayoun M. Copeland, District Attorney, and William R. Toal, III, Assistant District Attorney, Media, for Commonwealth, appellee.

BEFORE: OLSON, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and STEVENS^* , P.J.E.

OPINION BY STEVENS, P.J.E.:

Appellant, Justin Yim, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, which, sitting as finder of fact in Appellant's consolidated non-jury trial on stipulated facts, found him guilty on all drug-related charges he faced. Sentenced to three to 23 months' incarceration, to be followed by 4 years' probation, Appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained from his college dorm room by university public safety officers and administrators.

We affirm.

The trial court sets forth the facts and procedural history as follows:

Villanova University currently has a University police department[, which was established on August 1, 2016, after the relevant time period in question]. However, on February 13, 2016, the Public Safety Office oversaw security at the University.^{[ ]} N.T. 12/19/16, at 10, 23. Public Safety [o]fficers wore uniforms but did not carry weapons or handcuffs and had no arrest powers. Id. at 23-26; N.T. 4/8/17, at 20. They had no legal authority and did not apprehend or arrest individuals. N.T. 4/8/17, at 20.

During the early morning hours of February 13[, 2016,] [P]ublic [S]afety officers became engaged in violent confrontations with two resident students and a female visitor who all admitted to ingesting LSD. N.T. 12/19/16, at 11-12, 23-26, 27; N.T. 4/8/17 at 20. These individuals were restrained during the assaults and Radnor Police responded and arrested the individuals. N.T 12/16/17, at 26. Due to her condition and the admission that she had ingested LSD, the female visitor was transported to the hospital. One of the resident students, Daniel Jin, lived in Good Counsel Hall, Room 339, with the Defendant [hereinafter "Appellant"]. Id. at 1. He was arrested and was taken to the hospital as well. 4/8/17, at 40.

Good Counsel Hall is a student residence hall that is owned and operated by Villanova University. Id. at 13. To obtain housing at Villanova students enter a housing contract with the University and consent to [the] search of [a] dorm room where it has been determined administratively that items or individuals in a particular room pose a possible safety or health risk to the community. Id. See also Exhibit CS-1. Students agree [to] comply with University policies, procedures, and regulations and to comply with the University Code of Student Conduct, Residence Life Policies and safety and security responsibilities that are set forth in the Student Handbook.... Appellant agreed to the terms and conditions of the housing contract on May 27, 2015, as evidenced by his electronic submission of the housing application. Exhibit CS-2.

During the morning of February 13[, 2016,] the Villanova Director of Public Safety, David Tedjeske, was advised of the assaults that took place earlier and of the LSD consumption of the individuals involved. Specifically, he learned that Daniel Jin and his juvenile girlfriend were hospitalized after the assaults and that the pair had consumed LSD. N.T. 4/8/17, at 21.

Director Tedjeske contacted the Vice President for Student Life and the Dean of Students and requested authorization to search Jin's^{[ ]} room out of concern that additional LSD would be on campus. The administrators gave permission for a search and Director Tedjeske contacted Thomas DeMarco, Executive Director of Student Life, who met him at Good Counsel Hall, Room 339. Id. at 22. Two additional public safety officers were present. Id. at 24.

After two attempts to reach Jin by telephone, Director Tedjeske and one of the other two officers unlocked the door with a master key and entered the room. Id. Contraband and cash was strewn throughout the small room. Id. at 26. In plain view, a syringe was on top of a desk. Appellant's passport was in a drawer of the same desk. In another drawer a prayer book was found. Inside the prayer book were two sheets of LSD "stamps" in cellophane. "One hundred" was written on the cellophane and forty-five stamps were left on one sheet. A bag of marijuana was found along with packaging paraphernalia and large bundles of cash. See id. , at 17-22. See also C-1, C-21.

After the contraband was discovered, Director Tedjeske called the Villanova University dispatcher and asked him to contact the Radnor Police Department to report the discovery of the contraband. N.T. 4/8/17, at 27. Officer Metzler, a Radnor police officer, and his supervisor [arrived at the scene, but they] remained in the hall outside the room. They never entered the room and did not participate in the search. Id. at 27-28, 301-31.

After Director Tedjeske and his fellow Public Safety officers completed their search, they turned the contraband and items seized over to the Radnor Police officers. Id. at 31. Director Tedjeske completed an investigative report, including photographs for future use in University administrative proceedings. Id. at 31.

A warrant for Appellant's arrest was issued. He was arrested on February 14, 2016[, when] activity on his "Wildcat" card indicated that he returned to campus from New York. See N.T. 12/19/16, at 35-36; N.T. 4/8/17, at 33.

Trial Court Opinion, filed 10/17/17, at 4-6.

In Docket Number 3203-2016, Appellant was charged with one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance, 35 Pa.C.S. § 780-113(a)(16), and one count of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, 35 Pa.C.S. § 780-113(a)(32), stemming from the marijuana and paraphernalia recovered from his person on the date of his arrest. In Docket Number 3202-16, Appellant was charged with two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Deliver ("PWID"), 35 Pa.C.S. § 780-113(a)(16), one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance, and seven counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia stemming from the 26.96 grams of marijuana, 45 units of LSD, empty baggies, scale, marijuana grinder, hypodermic needle, and $8,865.00 cash recovered from his dorm room.

On September 20, 2016, Appellant filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized from his person and dorm room. On May 1, 2017, after conducting evidentiary hearings on December 19, 2016, and April 18, 2017, the trial court denied Appellant's motion.

On August 2, 2017, the court presided over a consolidated non-jury trial on stipulated facts and found Appellant guilty on all charges. The court sentenced Appellant to an aggregate term of three to 23 months' incarceration, to be followed by 4 years' probation on Docket No. 3202-16. On Docket No. 3203-16, the court imposed no further punishment. After the denial of Appellant's post-sentence motion for reconsideration on September 6, 2017, Appellant filed this timely appeal on September 15, 2017.¹

Appellant presents the following question for our consideration:

WAS THE TRIAL COURT'S LEGAL CONCLUSION THAT MR. YIM WAS NOT SUBJECT TO ANY STATE ACTION WHEN VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS SEARCHED HIS DORM ROOM WITHOUT A WARRANT ERRONEOUS?

Appellant's brief, at 4.

In reviewing a trial court's decision to deny a suppression motion, our standard of review is as follows:

In reviewing the denial of a suppression motion, our role is to determine [ ] whether the suppression court's factual findings are supported by the record and whether the legal conclusions drawn from those facts are correct. Because the Commonwealth prevailed before the suppression court, we may consider only the evidence of the Commonwealth and so much of the evidence for the defense as remains uncontradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole. Where the suppression court's factual findings are supported by the record, we are bound by these findings and may reverse only if the court's legal conclusions are erroneous. Where, as here, the appeal of the determination of the suppression court turns on allegations of legal error, the suppression court's legal conclusions are not binding on an appellate court, whose duty it is to determine if the suppression court properly applied the law to the facts. Thus, the conclusions of law of the courts below are subject to our plenary review.

Commonwealth v. Jones , 605 Pa. 188, 988 A.2d 649, 654 (2010) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Our scope of review is limited to the evidence presented at the suppression hearing. In re L.J. , 622 Pa. 126, 79 A.3d 1073, 1080 (2013).

Commonwealth v. Thran , 185 A.3d 1041, 1043 (Pa.Super. 2018).

Appellant's challenge against the order denying his motion to suppress centers on the argument that Villanova University's Public Safety ("VUPS") officers were de facto state actors, subject to the dictates of the Fourth Amendment, when they searched Appellant's dorm room. This is so, he maintains, either because the uniformed officers were the only University agents with the authority to exercise police-like powers on Villanova's campus, or because they worked "in concert" with the Radnor Township Police Department in conducting a search of Appellant's dorm room, where LSD and other contraband were found. We disagree.

The Fourth Amendment's protection against unlawful searches and seizures applies only to actions by the government, as "[i]ts origin and history clearly show that it was intended as a restraint upon the activities of sovereign authority[.]" Burdeau v. McDowell , 256 U.S. 465, 475, 41 S.Ct. 574, 65 L.Ed. 1048 (1921). It follows, therefore, that "the proscriptions of the Fourth Amendment and Article I, § 8, do not apply to searches and seizures conducted by private individuals." Commonwealth v....