STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
REBECCA MARSH, APPELLEE
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The State appeals a trial court order suppressing cocaine and drug paraphernalia seized from Rebecca Marsh's vehicle. The appellate court reverses, holding that officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Marsh's vehicle based on a detailed and specific informant tip that was promptly corroborated by police observation.
The Court reversed the suppression order, holding that the informant's tip met the criteria for a valid stop because it provided detailed and specific information about the physical description of the women and their vehicle, which officers promptly corroborated by observing the two women exit the nightclub and enter the described vehicle, thereby establishing reasonable suspicion for the investigatory stop.
[1] An investigatory stop is valid when officers have a well-founded or reasonable suspicion that a person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a criminal offe…
[2] An anonymous tip can establish reasonable suspicion for a stop if the tip's reliability is corroborated by detailed information that is later verified by police action.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A stop based upon an anonymous tip is valid where the reliability of the tip has been established through detailed and specific information later corroborated by prompt police action in locating the described individual in the named location.”
Establishes the legal standard for validating investigatory stops based on informant tips
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOfficers conducting a bar check at the Biarritz nightclub were approached by a woman they believed to be a club employee who reported that two women w…
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PER CURIAM.
The appellant, State of Florida, appeals a trial court order granting a motion to suppress evidence seized in connection with the arrest of the appellee, Rebecca Marsh. We reverse.
The state filed an information charging the appellee with possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The appellee filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized from her vehicle on the grounds that the information relied upon by the officers to initiate the stop was uncorroborated information from a source of unknown reliability and, therefore, insufficient to justify a stop pursuant to section 901.151, Florida Statutes (1987). The motion further alleged that any consent given subsequent to the illegal stop was invalid.
Officers Lloyd Wentz and Michael Met-calf testified at the suppression hearing. The officers testified that they were conducting a bar check at the Biarritz nightclub when they were approached by a white female whom they had never met or seen before, but whom they believed was a club employee. She informed the officers that two women had been snorting cocaine through a gold tipped straw in the ladies bathroom. She described the two women and pointed them out. She then walked the officers outside and showed them the sports car, a Subaru, in which the two women had been in earlier. After receiving this information and without verifying it, the officers waited in their squad car for the two women to leave. Shortly thereafter, the two women exited the nightclub, entered the Subaru, and drove away. The officers immediately stopped the vehicle.
Officer Wentz asked the appellee for her driver’s license and to exit the vehicle. The appellee cooperated. Officer Wentz then asked the appellee for consent to search her vehicle and informed her that he and Officer Metcalf had been told that she had been using cocaine. The appellee responded by telling the officers to “[g]o ahead and search all you want.”
Officer Wentz found a pink ceramic pipe with marijuana residue in the center console of the car. Officer Metcalf found a brass pipe and a glass tube with a gold colored tip with cocaine residue inside a white purse located behind the driver’s seat. The officers then seized the evidence and arrested the appellee. The trial court granted the appellee’s motion to suppress the evidence, and the state filed a timely notice of appeal.
We recognize that a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress comes to this court with a presumption of correctness and that the evidence and the inferences capable of being drawn therefrom must be viewed in a light most favorable to the appellee. Codie v. State, 406 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). However, in this case we find the state overcame this presumption, and the trial court erred in granting the appellee’s motion to suppress.
In order to make a valid investigatory stop, an officer must have a well founded or reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a criminal offense. § 901.151. A stop based upon an anonymous tip is valid where the reliability of the tip has been established through detailed and specific information later corroborated by prompt police action in locating the described individual in the named location. State v. Hetland, 366 So. 2d 831 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979), approved, 387 So. 2d 963 (Fla.1980).
We find that the information provided to the officers in this case meets the criteria established in Hetland. The officers received detailed and specific information regarding the physical description of the women observed snorting cocaine and their vehicle. The officers were, shortly thereafter, able to corroborate this information when they observed the two women leave the nightclub and drive away in the vehicle. At this time, the officers had a well founded suspicion to initiate the investigatory stop. Bussey v. State, 528 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). Therefore, the stop and subsequent consent were valid, and the trial court erred in suppressing the evidence seized.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent herewith.
SCHOONOVER, C.J., and FRANK and ALTENBERND, JJ., concur.
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Reed v. State, 577 So. 2d 1362 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)…ed upon an anonymous tip is valid where the reliability of the tip has been established through detailed and specific information later corroborated by prompt police action in locating the described individual in the named location.” State v. Marsh, 576 So. 2d 387 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). The information relayed to the police officers in this case clearly did not meet this test as it contained no facts to distinguish the two black males stopped by the officers from any other two black males. The illegality of th…
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Rega v. State, 733 So. 2d 602 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Porras v. State, 651 So. 2d 183 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Mitchell v. State, 598 So. 2d 274 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Guardado v. State, 562 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 576 So. 2d 387 (Fla.1991).…
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State v. Hutz, 144 So. 3d 618 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)…the defendant without further investigation or corroboration. Furthermore, the defendant admitted he possessed contraband before the officer posed a statement or question which required Miranda warnings. This case is most similar to State v. Marsh, 576 So. 2d 387 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). There, two officers were conducting a check at a nightclub when they were approached by a female whom they had never met or seen before, but whom they believed was a nightclub employee. She informed the officers that two women ha…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hetland v. State, 387 So. 2d 963 (Fla. 1980)
- State v. Hetland, 366 So. 2d 831 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)
- Levie Codie v. State, 406 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981)
- Bussey v. State, 528 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)