WILLIE MAE ROBINSON, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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The 1983 amendment to Article I, Section 12 of the Florida Constitution, coupled with Colorado v. Bertine, overruled prior Florida precedent requiring an alternative to impoundment.
Police stopped a rental car for a traffic infraction and conducted an inventory search, finding contraband. The police did not offer an alternative to…
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BARKETT, Justice.
We have for review Robinson v. State, 526 So. 2d 164 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988), which certified the following question of great public importance:
DOES THE 1983 AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I SECTION 12 OF THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION, COUPLED WITH THE COLORADO v. BERTINE DECISION, OVERRULE MILLER v. STATE, PROVIDING [sic] THE POLICE ARE NOT ACTING IN BAD FAITH?
We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. We answer the question in the affirmative and affirm.
Because of a traffic infraction, police stopped a rental car in which petitioner was a passenger,3 and later conducted an inventory search on the vehicle. During the search, police found contraband, which the trial court admitted into evidence against petitioner. It is undisputed that the police in this case did not provide an alternative to impoundment, as required by Miller v. State, 403 So. 2d 1307 (Fla.1981), and Sanders v. State, 403 So. 2d 973 (Fla.1981). Nevertheless, the district court affirmed on authority of Bertine. The district court found that the 1982 amendment to article I, section 12, of the Florida Constitution, made Bertine controlling precedent in this instance, Miller notwithstanding.
In the recent decision of State v. Wells, 539 So. 2d 464 (Fla.1989), we held that Ber-tine has superseded our contrary holdings in Miller and Sanders. Officers no longer are required to provide an alternative to impoundment, if they act in good faith. Accordingly, we affirm the district court below.
It is so ordered.
EHRLICH, C.J., and OVERTON, MCDONALD, SHAW, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
1. Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367, 107 S.Ct. 738, 93 L.Ed.2d 739 (1987).
2. Miller v. State, 403 So. 2d 1307 (Fla.1981).
. Both the traffic infraction and stop were not in issue in the district court below and accordingly will not be reviewed here. See Robinson v. State, 526 So. 2d 164, 165 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988).
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Hill v. State, 547 So. 2d 175 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)…permitting the state to excuse the juror. Finally, we find no error in the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress the evidence discovered in the automobile inventory search. See Robinson v. State, 526 So. 2d 164 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988), aff'd, 537 So. 2d 95 (Fla.1989). REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR A NEW TRIAL. GUNTHER and STONE, JJ., concur. HERSEY, C.J., dissents with opinion.…
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Roberson v. State, 566 So. 2d 561 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…39 So. 2d 464 (Fla.1989), affirmed, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 1632, 109 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990), the Florida Supreme Court indicated that Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367, 107 S.Ct. 738, 93 L.Ed.2d 739 (1987), has superseded Miller. See also, Robinson v. State, 537 So. 2d 95 (Fla.1989). In Wells, the court determined that under Bertine an officer is not required to consult with a legally arrested possessor of a vehicle regarding alternatives to impoundment of the vehicle. In this case, the state notes that the car invol…
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State v. Townsend, 40 So. 3d 103 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)…(Fla. 2d DCA 2008); State v. Williams, 516 So. 2d 1081, 1084 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). Furthermore, an officer is not required to offer an arrested driver an alternative to impoundment, provided the officer is acting in good faith. See Robinson v. State, 537 So. 2d 95, 96 (Fla.1989); Williams, 516 So. 2d at 1084. And it is the nature of the search, not the label the officer places upon it, that controls. Williams, 516 So. 2d at 1083. The Williams court determined that the search there was valid both as one incide…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367 (U.S. 1987)
- State v. Wells, 539 So. 2d 464 (Fla. 1989)
- Sims Crane Serv., Inc. v. Am-Cal Constr. Co., 403 So. 2d 1307 (Fla. 1980)
- Sanders v. State, 403 So. 2d 973 (Fla. 1981)
- Robinson v. State, 526 So. 2d 164 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)