Commonwealth Pennsylvania v. Troning Anthony Lewis

Troning Anthony Lewis appeals from the July 25, 1990 judgment of sentence of four to ten years incarceration imposed by the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas following his conviction by a jury of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and conspiracy. In this appeal, which followed the trial court's denial of appellant's motion to modify sentence, appellant raises numerous assertions of trial error. We find no merit in appellant's arguments; accordingly, we affirm. At the suppression hearing, the Commonwealth called two witnesses, Officer John W. Ciupinski and Detective Willie Holland. Officer Ciupinski, an Amtrak Police officer for fourteen years and a former township police officer for two years, described his duties as including the patrol of the main line of Amtrak between Lancaster and Harrisburg. At the time of appellant's arrest, Officer Ciupinski's department recently had undertaken an interdiction program using a ""drug courier profile."" In training for his assignment, Officer Ciupinski received a list of characteristics to identify suspected drug couriers. Those characteristics included: (1) individuals taking a train to a source city, such as New York; (2) payment for tickets in cash; (3) quick turnaround visits, i.e., making a return trip after staying only a brief time at the source city; (4) display of a large amount of cash; (5) exhibition of nervous or apprehensive behavior; and (6) lack of luggage or packages.