GEORGE WINTERS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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George Winters pleaded nolo contendere to cocaine possession and appealed the denial of his motion to suppress. The Florida appellate court reversed, holding that while the initial stop was lawful based on the officer observing a money exchange, the subsequent search of Winters' jacket pocket exceeded the permissible scope of a frisk under Florida's Stop and Frisk Law.
The court held that while the initial temporary detention was lawful based on the observed money exchange, the search of the jacket pocket and seizure of cocaine exceeded the permissible scope of a frisk under the Stop and Frisk Law because a pat-down of outer clothing would have revealed no hard object that could be a weapon.
[1] A temporary detention of a person is lawful under the Florida Stop and Frisk Law when circumstances reasonably indicate that the person is violating criminal law, includi…
[2] A stop is not warranted based solely upon an officer's observation of a person in a high-crime district, leaning into a car, and walking away upon seeing an officer.
Previewing 2 of 6 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 Florida Stop and Frisk Law authorizes temporary detention when circumstances reasonably indicate that a person is violating the criminal law.”
Establishes the legal standard for permissible stops under Florida law
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn October 8, 1987, plainclothes officers observed Winters leaning into a parked station wagon in a high-crime area and saw him accept money from the …
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THREADGILL, Judge.
George Winters pleaded nolo contendere to possession of cocaine,1 reserving the right to take this appeal from the denial of his motion to suppress. We reverse because the officer’s search and seizure of cocaine from the appellant’s pocket exceeded the permissible scope of an investigatory search under the Florida Stop and Frisk Law.2
We find under these facts that the temporary detention of the appellant was lawful. On October 8, 1987, at 11:00 p.m., plainclothes police observed the appellant leaning into a station wagon stopped in the middle of an unpaved alley in a Fort Myers area known for drug activity. Officer McDonald saw the appellant who is black accept money from the white male driver. As the officers pulled up behind the station wagon in an unmarked police car, someone yelled that police were in the area. The appellant looked at the officers and walked away. The station wagon drove off.
Officer Jelks got out of the police car and stopped the appellant, who appeared to be trying to conceal the money in his hand, while Officer McDonald pursued the station wagon. As Jelks was ordering the appellant to put his hands on the hood of a car, Officer Morrissey arrived to back him up. At one point the appellant put his hand into his jacket pocket. Morrissey withdrew the hand from the pocket and placed it on top of the car’s hood. He then searched the pocket to “see what he was after,” pulling out what appeared to be cocaine.
The Florida Stop and Frisk Law authorizes temporary detention when circumstances reasonably indicate that a person is violating the criminal law. A stop is not warranted based solely upon an officer's observation of a black person in a high-crime district, leaning into the window of a white man’s car stopped in the middle of the street, who walks away upon seeing an officer approach. Dames v. State, 566 So. 2d 51, 52 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); State v. Hoover, 520 So. 2d 696, 697 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). In this case, however, one of the officers saw the appellant accept money from the driver. The addition of this factor, the exchange of money or drugs, would justify a stop under the law. See Dames, 566 So. 2d at 52 and Hoover, 520 So. 2d at 697. We therefore find that these circumstances justified the temporary detention of the appellant.
We cannot, however, justify the search and seizure of cocaine found in the appellant’s jacket pocket. The stop and frisk law authorizes a limited search to disclose a dangerous weapon where there is a reasonable suspicion that the detainee is armed. See State v. Webb, 398 So. 2d 820, 825 (Fla.1981) (Under Florida Stop and Frisk Law, a valid frisk does not require probable cause but a reasonable belief that the person temporarily detained is armed with a dangerous weapon.). Nevertheless, the search may not ordinarily go beyond a pat-down of the outer clothing. Walker v. State, 514 So. 2d 1149 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Piediscalzo v. State, 549 So. 2d 255, 257 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). Seizure is permissible if the officer reasonably believes the object felt in a pat-down was a weapon. Id. A pat-down in this case would have revealed no hard object which could have been a weapon. See id. We add that the seizure of the cocaine cannot be justified as a search incident to arrest, because the detention was not supported by facts sufficient to establish probable cause for an arrest.
Reversed and remanded.
SCHEB, A.C.J., and PARKER, J„ concur. . § 893.13(l)(f), Fla.Stat. (1987).
. § 901.151, Fla.Stat. (1987).
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Cited By (16 total)
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Revels v. State, 666 So. 2d 213 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)…s observed in the hand-to-hand transaction, but there is no indication in the opinion that a specific house had been targeted because of its prior history or that recent similar transactions had occurred at the house. Similarly, in Winters v. State, 578 So. 2d 5 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 589 So. 2d 292 (Fla.1991), we held that the officers there lacked probable cause after viewing an exchange of money in an alley. Although the alley was reportedly “known for drug activity,” the opinion does not describe…
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Johnson v. State, 610 So. 2d 581 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…g else. See Bush v. State, 594 So. 2d 793 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Bolinger v. State, 576 So. 2d 875 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991); Dames v. State, 566 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Peabody v. State, 556 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Gipson. Cf. Winters v. State, 578 So. 2d 5, 6 (2d DCA), rev. den., 589 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 1991) (temporary detention justified because officer saw defendant lean into vehicle and accept money from driver); Blanding v. State, 446 So. 2d 1135 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984) (rapid succession of transactions…
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Doney v. State, 648 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…1 So. 2d at 967 (police officer did not have probable cause to search defendant’s mouth for the presence of cocaine when the officer testified that he knew that Cummo had something in his mouth which he suspected might be cocaine); Winters v. State, 578 So. 2d 5 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. denied, 589 So. 2d 292 (Fla.1991) (facts insufficient to establish probable cause where the officer witnessed a hand to hand exchange of money between the defendant who was leaning into a station wagon stopped in the middle of an…
Previewing 3 of 16 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Webb, 398 So. 2d 820 (Fla. 1981)
- Walker v. State, 514 So. 2d 1149 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)
- State v. Hoover, 520 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)
- Dames v. State, 566 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
- McLEOD v. State, 549 So. 2d 255 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)