NELSON ANTHONY DIAZ, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Nelson and Hector Diaz appealed their cocaine trafficking convictions after entering conditional pleas following denial of their motions to suppress. The court reversed, holding that the trooper's warrantless opening of a closed bag during an inventory search of an impounded vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment because there was no evidence of a mandatory policy requiring such opening.
The court held that the opening of the closed bag violated the Fourth Amendment because Colorado v. Bertine requires that a trooper may only open closed containers during an inventory search if following standard police procedures that mandate such opening in every impounded vehicle, and no such mandatory policy was established in the record.
[1] A warrantless search of a closed container during an inventory search of an impounded vehicle is permissible only if the searching officer is following standard police pr…
[2] The state bears the burden of proving that a warrantless search falls within a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“[the trooper] to open closed containers in an inventory search only if [he was] following standard police procedures that mandate the opening of such containers in every impounded vehicle”
Establishes the legal standard from Colorado v. Bertine requiring mandatory procedures for opening closed containers during inventory searches
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA Florida Highway Patrol trooper stopped a rental car driven by Nelson for speeding. Nelson provided a false name and was arrested when the trooper di…
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GARRETT, Judge.
Both Nelson and Hector Diaz appeal convictions for trafficking in cocaine. We have consolidated the appeals for opinion purposes. Each appellant entered a conditional plea of “no contest” after the trial court denied their respective motions to suppress.
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper stopped a speeding rental car driven by Nelson and occupied by Hector. Nelson gave the trooper a false name. An arrest followed when the trooper discovered Nelson’s license had been suspended. Troopers are instructed to tow a rented car if the renter is arrested. Although later determined that Hector had rented the car, the trooper could not decipher the name of the authorized driver on the rental contract. Neither appellant said anything about Hector being the authorized driver. The trooper impounded the car and without a warrant he conducted an inventory search. The trooper unzipped a bag discovered in the trunk and found the cocaine.
At the suppression hearing, no one testified as to Florida Highway Patrol’s standard procedures for opening closed containers found during an inventory search.
Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367, 107 S.Ct. 738, 93 L.Ed.2d 739 (1987), and Robinson v. State, 537 So. 2d 95 (Fla.1989), authorized the impoundment. The trooper acted reasonably and in good faith by choosing to impound the car rather than have a seemingly unauthorized person drive it after the stop. However, Bertine, 107 S.Ct. at 744, allowed “[the trooper] to open closed containers in an inventory search only if [he was] following standard police procedures that mandate the opening of such containers in every impounded vehicle.” As in State v. Wells, 539 So. 2d 464, 468-69 (Fla.1989), “since this record reveals no such mandatory policy [or any trial court finding], we must hold that the opening of the [bag] in this instance violated Bertine.” Because all searches without a warrant are unreasonable, the state had the burden to show that the search came within one of the recognized exceptions to the constitutional warrant requirement. Stoner v. California, 376 U.S. 483, 84 S.Ct. 889, 11 L.Ed.2d 856 (1964).
Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s orders denying suppression of the cocaine and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
WALDEN and GUNTHER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Stoner v. California, 376 U.S. 483 (U.S. 1964)
- Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367 (U.S. 1987)
- State v. Wells, 539 So. 2d 464 (Fla. 1989)
- Robinson v. State, 537 So. 2d 95 (Fla. 1989)