THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
HUGO BARCENAS, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1989-12-26
No. 89-428
Before BARKDULL, FERGUSON and JORGENSON, JJ.
559 So. 2d 70 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1989) Caution
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The State appeals a suppression order in a cocaine possession case. The trial court suppressed narcotics evidence, finding an unlawful search and seizure lacking probable cause. The appellate court reversed, holding that police had founded suspicion to conduct a Terry stop, making the subsequent seizure of cocaine lawful.


Holding

The court held that Officer Fernandez conducted a lawful Terry stop based on founded suspicion of criminal activity. The cumulative circumstances—the informant's proven ability to obtain drugs, identification of Barcenas as a supplier, arrangement of a cocaine deal, and observation of a matching vehicle at the prearranged location and time—provided ample basis for the investigatory stop. The seizure of cocaine observed in plain view was therefore proper.


Headnotes

[1] Police may stop and investigate a motor vehicle when there is a founded suspicion of criminal activity.

[2] A founded suspicion of criminal activity justifying a vehicle stop can be based on the cumulative impact of circumstances perceived by officers.

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Key Quotes

“Police may stop and investigate a motor vehicle when there is a 'founded' suspicion of criminal activity in the mind of the police officer.”

Establishes the legal standard for investigatory stops under Terry v. Ohio

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Facts & Procedural History

Metro-Dade police received information from a confidential informant (previously arrested on drug charges) who agreed to call Barcenas to arrange a co…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The state appeals from a nonfinal order suppressing narcotics evidence. For the following reasons, we reverse the order under review.

Hugo Barcenas was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine. Metro-Dade police received information from an informant, which led to the arrest of Barcenas. Specifically, the informant, previously arrested on an unrelated drug charge, agreed with police to make a phone call to Barcenas to arrange a cocaine “deal” at Houlihan’s Restaurant. When a car occupied by two persons matching the description given by the informant arrived at the stated location at precisely the prearranged time, 11:00-11:30 p.m., Metro police surrounded the car. After the stop, Officer Fernandez walked up to Barcenas’s vehicle, identified himself as a police officer conducting a narcotics investigation, and asked Barcenas and his passenger to step out of the vehicle. Despite the police officer’s uncontroverted testimony that the contraband was observed in plain view in the vehicle prior to the arrest, the trial court found that an unlawful search and seizure had occurred and that the requisite finding of probable cause was lacking. We hold to the contrary that Officer Fernandez made only a Terry stop of Barcenas’s vehicle based upon a founded suspicion of criminal activity providing an ample basis for a reasonable inquiry by the officer. “Police may stop and investigate a motor vehicle when there is a ‘founded’ suspicion of criminal activity in the mind of the police officer.” Kehoe v. State, 521 So. 2d 1094, 1095 (Fla.1988) (citations omitted).

See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).

Here, the police had proof of the informant’s ability to obtain illegal drugs, the informant identified Barcenas as one of his suppliers, the informant set up a cocaine deal with Barcenas, and the police observed a car matching the description given by the informant pull into the parking lot where the sale had been arranged. Although we accept the defendant’s argument that the record does not support a finding of probable cause to arrest, the circumstances presented to the officer, cumulatively, were adequate to raise a founded suspicion of criminal activity sufficient to justify the stop in question. See Kehoe, 521 So. 2d at 1096 (“To determine if there were ample grounds to give the police officers a founded suspicion of criminal activity we look at the cumulative impact of the circumstances perceived by the officers.”).

The fact that the stop was accomplished by multiple officers or with guns drawn does not convert an investigatory stop into an arrest. See State v. Ruiz, 526 So. 2d 170 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 534 So. 2d 401 (Fla.1988), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 872, 102 L.Ed.2d 995 (1989).

Having concluded that the stop was justified, it is clear that Officer Fernandez properly ordered Barcenas out of the car while the drug investigation was pursued. Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 98 S.Ct. 330, 54 L.Ed.2d 331 (1977) (directing the occupants of vehicle out of car while officer pursues his lawful investigation is a de minimis intrusion at best); B.C. v. State, 449 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984) (following lawful stop, arresting officer properly ordered juvenile out of his vehicle).

Finally, the cocaine was properly seized by the officer as it was uncontro-verted that the drugs were observed in plain sight from outside of Barcenas’s vehicle. Adoue v. State, 408 So. 2d 567 (Fla.1981); Neary v. State, 384 So. 2d 881 (Fla.1980); B. C. v. State, 449 So. 2d at 956. For these reasons, there was no constitutional impropriety in the stop of the defendant or in anything which followed. The order of suppression under review is, therefore, reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Reversed and remanded.


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Lavictor Bernard Williams, 739 So. 2d 717 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)
    …, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925); State v. Waterman, 638 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. den., 649 So. 2d 236 (Fla.1994); State v. Hicks, 579 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); State v. Starkey, 559 So. 2d 335 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); State v. Barcenas, 559 So. 2d 70 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), rev. den., 569 So. 2d 1278 (Fla.1990); State v. Wells, 516 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); State v. Coleman, 502 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). See also Adoue v. State, 408 So. 2d 567 (Fla.1981). It is not the conve nience of the…
  • State v. Hawkins, 578 So. 2d 854 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
    …the vehicle prior to his order to the occupants to exit the vehicle. Moreover, he had the right to be where he was when he observed the paraphernalia. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971); State v. Barcenas, 559 So. 2d 70 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1989). I would reverse the suppression order.…

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