THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
JOSE LUIS BATISTA, APPELLEE
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Florida's appellate court reversed a trial court's suppression order, holding that cocaine seized from the defendant was admissible because police officers lawfully entered an apartment building's common areas and observed the defendant in possession of drugs while pursuing a fleeing felon.
The court held that the cocaine should not have been suppressed. Officers lawfully pursued a fleeing felon into the apartment, and from the lawful vantage point of the open doorway, they observed the defendant in possession of cocaine. The method by which officers entered the building grounds was immaterial because the general public had unimpeded access through the front entrance, and the defendant could not have had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the unlocked and unsecured common areas.
[1] A police officer's entry onto apartment building grounds by scaling a wall is legally inconsequential if the general public has unimpeded access to the building through a…
[2] A resident of an unlocked and unsecured apartment building cannot have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the common entries, hallways, and spaces of the building.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“it is legally inconsequential—although perhaps emotionally provocative—that the seizing police officers entered the grounds of the thirty-unit apartment building by scaling a six-foot high wall at the rear of the property, since it plainly appears from a fair reading of the record that the general public had unimpeded access to the building through the front entrance to the property”
Establishes that the method of police entry (scaling wall) is immaterial where the public has unimpeded access through another entrance
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePolice officers pursued a man named Garcia who fled from them and discarded a concealed gun in a common hallway of a 30-unit apartment building. Garci…
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DANIEL S. PEARSON, Judge.
We reverse the order under review which suppressed cocaine seized from the defendant. Contrary to the trial court’s view, it is legally inconsequential— although perhaps emotionally provocative —that the seizing police officers entered the grounds of the thirty-unit apartment building by scaling a six-foot high wall at the rear of the property, since it plainly appears from a fair reading of the record that the general public had unimpeded access to the building through the front entrance to the property.
Thus, even assuming, arguendo, that a resident (a status which the defendant alleged but did not prove) may have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the common entries, hallways, and spaces of a locked or otherwise secured apartment building, see, e.g., United States v. Carriger, 541 F. 2d 545 (6th Cir.1976); but see United States v. Holland, 755 F. 2d 253, 256 (2d Cir.1985) (“we never have held that the common areas must be accessible to the public at large”); United States v. Eisler, 567 F. 2d 814, 816 (8th Cir.1977) (“expectation of privacy necessarily implies an expectation that one will be free of any intrusion, not merely unwarranted intrusions”); see generally 1 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 2.3(b), at 388-89 & cases collected at n. 44 (2d ed. 1987), no resident of the unlocked and unsecured premises and apartment building in the present case could have had such a reasonable expectation in those shared areas.
Moreover, the defendant cannot complain that the events leading to the discovery of the cocaine in his possession were unlawful: when a man named Garcia ran from the uniformed officers and threw down a concealed gun in the common hallway, the officers lawfully pursued him to an apartment which Garcia entered; in pursuit of Garcia — now a fleeing felon — they lawfully stepped into the open doorway of the apartment, United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38, 96 S.Ct. 2406, 49 L.Ed.2d 300 (1976); Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967); and, from that lawful vantage point, they saw the defendant Batista holding and attempting to dispose of a bag of cocaine.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
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State v. Titus, 707 So. 2d 706 (Fla. 1998)…GRIMES, Senior Justice. We have for review Titus v. State, 696 So. 2d 1257 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), in which the Fourth District Court of Appeal certified conflict with State v. Batista, 524 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. At issue here is whether the common living areas within rooming houses should be accorded the same Fourth Amendment protection extended to the interior of private homes.1…1 / 3
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Titus v. State, 696 So. 2d 1257 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)…of the public in the area, apparently could have come into the home, or come into the rooming house into the common areas.” The court thereupon found the paraphernalia in plain view. The trial judge further explained that he read State v. Batista, 524 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988), cited by the prosecutor, to hold that no resident of an unlocked, unsecured common or shared area in an apartment building has a reasonable expectation of privacy in such areas. We begin with the principle that “[w]ithout questi…1 / 2
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Friedson v. State, 207 So. 3d 961 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)…common area[] shared by the residents in Appellant’s apartment complex.” The State relies on State v. Batista, where the Third District Court held that a resident had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the shared areas of an apartment building. 524 So. 2d 481, 482 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). Unlike in Batista, the evidence in this case is that Appellant does not live in a large apartment building with a common lobby, hallways, or other areas frequented by all residents. Cf. id. Rather, our record evidence descri…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294 (U.S. 1967)
- United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38 (U.S. 1976)
- United States v. Carriger, 541 F.2d 545 (6th Cir. 1976)
- United States v. Eisler, 567 F.2d 814 (8th Cir. 1977)
- United States v. Mose Holland, 755 F.2d 253 (2d Cir. 1985)