STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
DAVID BARTEE, RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1993-06-24
No. 76960
BARKETT, C.J., and OVERTON, MCDONALD, GRIMES and HARDING, JJ., concur., SHAW, J., dissents.
623 So. 2d 458 Florida Supreme Court (1993) Caution
Cited by 16 cases

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Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court reviewed whether a defendant's abandonment of cocaine during a police chase constituted the fruit of an unlawful seizure under the Fourth Amendment. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in California v. Hodari D., the court held that a pursuit and verbal command to stop do not constitute a seizure unless the suspect submits to police authority, and therefore the abandoned cocaine was admissible evidence.


Holding

Under California v. Hodari D., a chase and verbal command to stop do not constitute a seizure unless the suspect submits to the show of authority. Therefore, Bartee's abandonment of cocaine while still fleeing was not the product of an unlawful seizure, and the evidence was admissible.


Headnotes

[1] Contraband abandoned by a suspect during flight from police is not the fruit of an unlawful seizure if the suspect has not yet been seized for Fourth Amendment purposes.

[2] A suspect's flight from a police officer, without more, does not constitute a seizure under the Fourth Amendment.

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Key Quotes

“Although the Court assumed that the police pursuit was a 'show of authority' calling upon Hodari D. to halt, the Court held that Hodari D. had not been seized as contemplated by the fourth amendment of the United States Constitution at the time of the abandonment, since at this point in time, he had not been tackled or otherwise 'submitted to the show of authority.'”

Establishes that seizure requires submission to authority, not merely pursuit or verbal commands

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Facts & Procedural History

Police officers executing arrest warrants in a residential area encountered Bartee, who was not named in any warrant. When an officer asked Bartee abo…

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Opinion of the Court
KOGAN, Justice.

KOGAN, Justice.

We have for review State v. Bartee, 568 So. 2d 523 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), in which the district court certified its decision as in direct conflict with State v. Perez, 592 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), approved, 620 So. 2d 1256 (Fla.1993) and State v. Arnold, No. 89-1549 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 31, 1990), withdrawn, 579 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. Police officers assigned to execute arrest warrants in a residential area encountered respondent, Bartee, who was not named in a warrant. One of the officers approached Bartee and asked if he had seen a suspect who had fled after seeing the officer. The officer wore a bullet-resistant vest and a raid jacket with a sheriffs star pinned on it, and he carried a firearm that was covered by his raid jacket. Bartee pointed to a duplex, and said the suspect had gone into it. Bartee was very nervous, and very hesitant to talk to the officer. The conversation was brief, and when the officer stepped back slightly, Bartee ran. The officer then chased Bartee and told him to stop.

Bartee continued to run, followed by the officer. When the officer was approximately twenty yards from Bartee, he saw Bartee reach into his right pocket. At that point, the officer reached for his gun but did not draw it. He called out to Bartee, “Let me see your hands.” The officer then observed Bartee discard a pill bottle as Bartee continued to run. He retrieved the bottle, determined that it contained crack cocaine, and radioed to a fellow officer to arrest Bartee for possession of cocaine.

Bartee moved to suppress the crack cocaine prior to trial. The judge found that the officer lacked cause to chase respondent or to order him to stop, and held that such acts constituted a seizure under the fourth amendment. The judge granted the motion to suppress the cocaine, finding that Bartee’s subsequent act of throwing the contraband resulted from the officer’s unlawful conduct.

On appeal, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed, reasoning that the abandonment of the contraband was the product of an involuntary act directly attributable to the unlawful stop. The court certified conflict with Perez and Arnold, which held that a prerequisite to involuntary abandonment is the commencement of an illegal search prior to the abandonment.

This court recently approved Perez and disapproved the opinion under review based on the recent United States Supreme Court decision in California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991). In Hodari D., respondent fled from the police, who gave chase. As the officer closed in on Hodari D., Hodari D. tossed away a small rock that later was determined to be cocaine. In the juvenile proceeding that ensued, the state conceded it had no reasonable suspicion to justify stopping Hodari D. The United States Supreme Court framed the issue as whether, at the time Hodari D. dropped the cocaine, he was seized within the meaning of the fourth amendment of the United States Constitution. Although the Court assumed that the police pursuit was a “show of authority” calling upon Hodari D. to halt, the Court held that Hodari D. had not been seized as contemplated by the fourth amendment at the time of the abandonment, since at this point in time, he had not been tackled or otherwise “submitted to the show of authority.” Therefore, the recovery of the cocaine that had been abandoned while he was running was not the fruit of an unlawful seizure.

Under the rationale in Hodari D., the chase and call for Bartee to stop did not constitute a seizure. Therefore the abandonment of the cocaine was not the fruit of the poisonous tree and the evidence should not have been suppressed. We quash the decision below, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

BARKETT, C.J., and OVERTON, MCDONALD, GRIMES and HARDING, JJ., concur. SHAW, J., dissents.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Keydrum Blue v. State, 837 So. 2d 541 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
    …h Amendment seizure during the course of the questioning. Therefore, Blue argues that the crate and its contents should be suppressed since he dropped the crate during an alleged illegal seizure. The instant case is very similar to State v. Bartee, 623 So. 2d 458 (Fla.1993). In Bartee, a police officer approached Bartee and asked him if he had seen a suspect who had fled from the officer. Id. at 459. Bartee gave an answer, but appeared very nervous and hesitant to talk to the officer. After a brief conversat…
  • Lang v. State, 671 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)
    …le. In California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991), the Supreme Court held that a seizure occurs when a person is physically subdued by police, or submits to an officer’s show of authority. See also State v. Bartee, 623 So. 2d 458 (Fla.1993); Perez v. State, 620 So. 2d 1256 (Fla.1993). In this case Lang had not been physically subdued, but he had submitted to the deputy’s authority by beginning to comply with the deputy’s instruction to get into the patrol car. Had the deputy…
  • Houston v. State, 925 So. 2d 404 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
    …res either physical force ... or where that is absent, submission to the assertion of authority”). Since Houston was not seized until after probable cause was established, the trial court properly denied his motion to suppress. See State v. Bartee, 623 So. 2d 458 (Fla.1993) (chase by police officer and order for defendant to stop did not constitute a seizure, therefore cocaine abandoned during defendant’s flight was not fruit of the poisonous tree and should not have been suppressed); Perez v. State, 620 So.…

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