THOMAS DAVID MCGRAW, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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McGraw was charged with possession of a concealed firearm and marijuana after police observed a partially visible pistol on the front seat of his vehicle. The Florida Supreme Court remanded the case with instructions to reconsider under Ensor v. State, which held that a weapon can be both in open view and still constitute a concealed weapon under Florida law. The appellate court affirmed the convictions but vacated the illegal sentence for the driving-with-suspended-license conviction.
The firearm was properly seized and the charges were properly denied dismissal because whether a weapon is concealed is a question of fact for the jury, not a matter of law for the court. The Supreme Court's Ensor decision established that absolute invisibility is not required for concealment and that the critical question is whether an ordinary person by casual observation would know the object to be a firearm. The trial court did not err in denying McGraw's motions.
[1] A firearm is concealed when it is on or about the person and hidden from the ordinary sight of another person, with "on or about the person" including the interior of an…
[2] Visibility of a weapon from a point outside a vehicle does not, as a matter of law, preclude it from being a concealed weapon.
Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“For a firearm to be concealed, it must be (1) on or about the person and (2) hidden from the ordinary sight of another person.”
Establishes the Supreme Court's two-part test for determining whether a firearm is concealed under Florida law.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMcGraw was stopped for erratic driving. Police officers observed a pistol partially covered by a wet suit on the front seat of his vehicle when lookin…
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McCORD, Judge.
The decision of this Court reported at 387 So. 2d 444 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), was quashed and remanded by the Supreme Court of Florida in State v. McGraw, 401 So. 2d 1325 (Fla.1981). The Supreme Court directed that we consider this appeal in light of Ensor v. State, 403 So. 2d 349 (Fla.1981).
In Ensor, as here, the issue to be determined was whether an object observed from a “pre-intrusive open view” and believed by a trained police officer to be a weapon can also simultaneously be a “concealed weapon” prohibited under § 790.01, Florida Statutes (1977). There, two police officers stopped an automobile which was running at night with its headlights turned off. The officers looked into the vehicle with their flashlights for hidden passengers, weapons or other contraband in accordance with normal police procedure. As stated by the Supreme Court:
Peering through the front windshield, one officer spotted a portion of a white object protruding from under the left side of the passenger floormat. From squatting and looking into the already-opened passenger door, the officer determined the object to be a derringer pistol. At that point the officer entered the vehicle and retrieved the weapon.
Ensor was charged with carrying a concealed weapon in violation of § 790.01. The state contended that the weapon was in “plain view” and, therefore, properly seized; Ensor contended that if the pistol was in “plain view,” it could not be “concealed,” and the trial court granted Ensor’s motion for dismissal. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, and the Supreme Court affirmed.
The facts of the case sub judice are similar. McGraw was stopped by an officer for driving in an erratic manner; two additional officers arrived at the scene and one of them looked in the window where on the front seat he saw a pistol partially covered by a wet suit. (A cigar box, which was later discovered to contain marijuana, was on top of the wet suit.) He called another officer over, and that officer testified that he, too, saw the pistol. That officer also testified that he did not see the pistol on two occasions when he had been on the driver’s side of the vehicle. Both officers testified they immediately recognized the object partially covered by the wet suit as a pistol. In resolving the question in our previous decision, we considered the holding of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in State v. Ensor, 375 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979), but found the facts in the instant case distinguishable from those in Ensor. The basis for that distinction was that, here, the officers immediately recognized the object as a firearm, and thus it was not a concealed firearm, while in Ensor, the pistol was not readily discernible.
On the question of the circumstances under which a firearm or weapon is “concealed,” the Supreme Court points to the definition obtained in § 790.001(2), Florida Statutes (1977): “Concealed firearm” means any firearm . . . when the same is carried on or about a person in such a manner as to conceal said firearm from the ordinary sight of another person.
The Supreme Court went on to say:
We agree with the majority view and find that absolute invisibility is not a necessary element to a finding of concealment under Section 790.001. The operative language of that section establishes a two-fold test. For a firearm to be concealed, it must be (1) on or about the person and (2) hidden from the ordinary sight of another person. The term “on or about the person” means physically on the person or readily accessible to him. This generally includes the interior of an automobile and the vehicle’s glove compartment, whether or not locked. The term “ordinary sight of another person” means the casual and ordinary observation of another in the normal associations of life. Ordinary observation by a person other than a police officer does not generally include the floorboard of a vehicle, whether or not the weapon is wholly or partially visible. . . .
These statements are not intended as absolute standards. Their purpose is to make it clear that a weapon’s possible visibility from a point outside the vehicle may not, as a matter of law, preclude the weapon from being a concealed weapon under 790.001.... In all instances, common sense must prevail. The critical question turns on whether an individual, standing near a person with a firearm or beside a vehicle in which a person with a firearm is seated, may by ordinary observation know the questioned object to be a firearm. The ultimate decision must rest upon the trier of fact under the circumstances of each case. ... We hold that appellant’s prosecution for possession of a concealed firearm was permissible and that the firearm was wrongfully suppressed. The jury should determine whether this weapon was concealed under these facts.
Considering the Supreme Court’s pronouncements in Ensor, we conclude that under the facts of the case sub judice, the question of whether or not the partially concealed firearm (which could be seen by a police officer looking through the window on the passenger’s side but was not seen through the window on the driver’s side) was a concealed firearm was a question of fact for the jury. Neither the trial court nor this Court could properly rule as a matter of law that it was not a concealed firearm. The trial court, therefore, did not err in denying McGraw’s motion to dismiss the charge or in denying his motion to suppress the firearm seized from his vehicle or to suppress the marijuana found in the cigar box after McGraw’s arrest. Having pled nolo contendere reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motions, appellant thereby rested his case on appeal on the validity of the trial court’s rulings on the motions. The trial court having ruled correctly, his convictions are affirmed.
In Ensor, the Supreme Court’s opinion elucidates the difference between “plain view” and “open view.” It would serve no useful purpose to repeat that analysis here. Suffice it to say, however, that the Supreme Court points out that the view of the officers in both Ensor and the case sub judice was “open view” as distinguished from “plain view.”
The trial court imposed an illegal sentence upon McGraw, however, when he sentenced him to three years’ probation for driving with a suspended driver’s license. The maximum period of incarceration for this offense is one year in jail. Section 322.34(1), Florida Statutes (1977); § 775.-082(4)(a), Florida Statutes (1977). The sentence of three years’ probation is illegal since periods of incarceration and probation cannot exceed the maximum allowable sentence for the offense charged. State v. Holmes, 360 So. 2d 380 (Fla.1978). The sentence for driving with a suspended driver’s license is, therefore, vacated.
Reversed and remanded for the entry of an appropriate sentence for driving with a suspended driver’s license. The judgments and the remaining sentences are affirmed.
MILLS and BOOTH, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By (11 total)
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Dorelus v. State, 747 So. 2d 368 (Fla. 1999)…the concealed weapons charge should have been granted. See id. As Carpenter exemplifies, the focus must remain on the manner in which the weapon is carried. See id. For this reason, we disapprove of the First District’s reasoning in McGraw v. State, 404 So. 2d 817 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), where the district court affirmed the trial court’s denial of the motion to dismiss based in part on the fact that, although one officer looking into the passenger’s window could immediately recognize the object in the defendant…
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State v. Puig, 551 So. 2d 552 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…ich supplied the subject matter of this appeal. The State contends, and we agree, that the issue of whether the partially visible firearm was “concealed” is an issue of fact for the jury. Ensor v. State, 403 So. 2d 349 (Fla.1981); McGraw v. State, 404 So. 2d 817 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); see also Chapas v. State, 404 So. 2d 1102 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). The fact that a firearm is in the open view of a law enforcement officer does not preclude it from being a concealed firearm within the meaning of the applicable stat…
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State v. Hankerson, 430 So. 2d 517 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)…dden from the ordinary sight of another person. § 790.001(2), Fla.Stat. (1981); Ensor v. [*519] State, 403 So. 2d 349, 354 (Fla.1981). The term “on or about a person” means physically on the person or readily accessible to him. Id.; McGraw v. State, 404 So. 2d 817, 819 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). The term “ordinary sight of another person” means the casual and ordinary observation of another in the normal associations of life. Ensor, 403 So. 2d at 354; McGraw, 404 So. 2d at 819. The facts of the case sub judice sho…
Previewing 3 of 11 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Elton E. Ensor v. State, 403 So. 2d 349 (Fla. 1981)
- State v. Holmes, 360 So. 2d 380 (Fla. 1978)
- McGRAW v. State, 387 So. 2d 444 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
- State v. Elton E. Ensor, 375 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)
- State v. McGRAW, 401 So. 2d 1325 (Fla. 1981)
- G. E. J. v. State, 401 So. 2d 1325 (Fla. 1981)