KIM LANGLEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Kim Langley appeals her conviction for cocaine possession after pleading no contest with a reserved right to appeal the denial of her motion to suppress. The court reverses because officers illegally seized Langley when they instructed her not to leave during an initial encounter, making her subsequent consent to search her purse invalid.
The court held that the officers' instruction to Langley not to leave constituted an illegal seizure because a reasonable person facing six police officers and a police dog would not believe she was free to decline the officers' request or terminate the encounter. The court further held that because there was nothing to break the chain of illegality, Langley's subsequent consent to search her purse was not freely and voluntarily given.
[1] A citizen-police encounter becomes a seizure when an officer instructs an individual not to leave the area.
[2] A reasonable person, facing multiple police officers and a police dog, would not believe they are free to leave.
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“In order to determine whether a particular encounter constitutes a seizure, a court must consider the circumstances surrounding the encounter to determine whether the police conduct would have communicated to a "reasonable person" that the person was not free to decline the officer's request or otherwise terminate the encounter.”
Establishes the legal standard for determining if a seizure occurred—the reasonable person test.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSix officers and a K-9 dog approached Langley and another man sitting on mobile home steps during what officers claimed was a routine citizen encounte…
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PARKER, Judge.
Kim Langley appeals the final judgment after pleading no contest to possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia after reserving her right to appeal the denial of her dispositive motion to suppress. We reverse because the initial citizen-police encounter turned into a seizure when the officer instructed Langley not to leave the area.
In this case, six officers and a K-9 dog approached the steps of the mobile home where Langley and another man were sitting waiting for a ride to work. They were told that the officers were checking out a complaint of child neglect and possible illegal narcotics activity. One officer asked Langley her name and if she lived in the mobile home. Langley gave her name and stated that she did reside in the home, but that she did not have any children. Then Langley got up and started to walk away; however, as she was walking away one of the officers told her to come back and wait until they made contact with the people in the mobile home. Langley returned to the stairs and sat down. Langley testified that she was afraid of the dog and that she did not believe she was free to leave because the officers stopped her when she attempted to leave.
The officers that testified at the suppression hearing provided different testimony regarding what occurred. One officer stated that it was a knock-and-talk, citizen encounter, and that Langley was free to leave. Another officer stated that they were doing an investigation based on a tip from a California police agency. However, both officers admitted that Langley attempted to leave after answering their questions and that the officers asked her to stay. When Langley returned to her seat on the steps, one officer requested identification. When Langley opened her purse, an officer testified that he saw a crack cocaine pipe in plain view. Thereafter, the officer arrested Langley.
In order to determine whether a particular encounter constitutes a seizure, a court must consider the circumstances surrounding the encounter to determine whether the police conduct would have communicated to a “reasonable person” that the person was not free to decline the officer’s request or otherwise terminate the encounter. See Popple v. State, 626 So. 2d 186, 188 (Fla.1993); State v. Crumpton, 676 So. 2d 987, 989 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Under these circumstances, it cannot be said that a reasonable person, facing six police officers and a police dog, would believe that she was free to leave.
Because we conclude that the detention was illegal and there was nothing to break the chain of illegality “to dissipate the taint of the prior illegal police action,” it cannot be said that Langley’s consent to look into her purse was freely and voluntarily given. Jordan v. State, 707 So. 2d 338, 338 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). Thus, we reverse the denial of Langley’s dispositive motion to suppress and remand with instructions that the trial court discharge Langley.
Reverse and remanded.
THREADGILL, A.C.J., and STRINGER, J., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Taylor v. State, 855 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 2003)…efendant reasonably could have believed he was free to terminate the encounter with police where defendant told officers he was lost and the officers offered the defendant shelter for the night, clean clothing, and a hot meal) with Langley v. State, 735 So. 2d 606, 608 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) (stating that “it cannot be said that a reasonable person, facing six police officers and a police dog, would believe that she was free to leave”). . Because Taylor was wearing only a towel, the deputies suggested that he ge…
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State v. Navarro, 19 So. 3d 370 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)…the circuit court held that a knock and talk cannot be based on a hunch and must stem from a tip or complaint. The circuit court relied on several Florida cases to support this conclusion. However, only Lunar-Martinez, Triana, and Langley v. State, 735 So. 2d 606 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999), ruled on the legality of a knock and talk. The other cases cited in the circuit court’s order are inapposite. See Wheeler v. State, 956 So. 2d 517, 520 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007) (deciding whether an emergency justified a war-rantless en…
Authorities Cited
- Jordan v. State, 707 So. 2d 338 (Fla. 1998)
- State v. Crumpton, 676 So. 2d 987 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)