JERRY JEAN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress evidence seized during an investigative detention.
[1] An investigatory stop requires specific and articulable facts that point to a reasonable, well-founded suspicion that a person has committed, is committing, or is about t…
[2] A mere hunch or suspicion is insufficient to justify an investigatory stop.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePolice issued a BOLO for attempted burglary suspects. Defendant was stopped and searched based on matching the BOLO description, and contraband was fo…
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DAMOORGIAN, J.
We review an order of the trial court denying a motion to suppress evidence seized from Jerry Jean’s person in the course of an investigative detention. We reverse the trial court’s ruling on the motion.
By way of background, on the day of Jean’s arrest, a “be-on-the-lookout” (BOLO) alert was issued in response to a reported attempted burglary of a residence. Jean witnessed four police cars pass him and observed several neighbors in the street. A patrol vehicle stopped near Jean and his companions. The unidentified police officer got out of his vehicle with his taser and ordered Jean and his companions to get on the ground. Thereafter, two other police officers appeared to serve as backup. Both observed Jean under the control of a third officer. During this initial contact Jean was Mirandized1 and searched while handcuffed. Two Xa-nax pills and two grams of cannabis were discovered on his person. Jean was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of these controlled substances.
Jean moved to suppress the state’s evidence on the basis that his detention and subsequent search were done without the necessary reasonable and articulable suspicion that he had committed, was committing, or was about to commit a crime.
At the hearing on the motion to suppress, both backup officers testified that Jean matched the description in the BOLO but neither provided any specificity regarding the description of the suspect reported in the BOLO. The officer who initiated Jean’s detention did not testify. Jean moved to suppress the state’s evidence which consisted of pills, cannabis, lab results, and statements on the grounds that the police lacked reasonable suspicion to support his detention.
The trial court denied the motion to suppress. Thereafter, Jean accepted a plea agreement from the state, preserving the right to appeal the trial court’s ruling on his motion to suppress.
“ ‘The standard of review applicable to a motion to suppress evidence requires that this Court defer to the trial court’s factual findings but review legal conclusions de novo.’ ” Pantin v. State, 872 So. 2d 1000, 1002 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) (quoting Backus v. State, 864 So. 2d 1158, 1159 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)). In as much as we accept the trial courts findings of fact, the suppression order at issue here turns on a question of law.
Therefore, we review the order de novo. See Ikner v. State, 756 So. 2d 1116, 1118 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). We begin our analysis with the well-established principal that an officer may conduct an investigatory stop based on specific and articulable facts that point to a reasonable, well-founded suspicion that a person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. See Pantin, 872 So. 2d 1000, 1002 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); (citing Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968)).
A mere hunch or suspicion is not enough to support a stop. Popple v. State, 626 So. 2d 185 (Fla.1993); Rodriguez v. State, 948 So. 2d 912, 914 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).
In determining the - legality of a stop as a consequence of a BOLO, this court has looked to factors such as the length of time and distance from the offense, specificity of the description of the alleged perpetrator(s), the source of the BOLO information, the time of day, absence of other persons in the vicinity of the sighting, suspicious conduct, and any other activity consistent with guilt. Rodriguez v. State, 948 So. 2d 912, 914 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (quoting Sapp v. State, 763 So. 2d 1257, 1258-59 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)).
In this case, the incident occurred in the middle of the day in a residential neighborhood. Jean testified that he had been at a friend’s house who lived several blocks from his mother’s house. .Shortly after the burglary was reported, Jean and his companions were stopped within a few blocks of the incident. The two back-up officers testified that Jean met the description in the BOLO. However, neither officer provided the description of the suspects in the BOLO and there was no in-court identification.
Despite the fact that Jean was found in close proximity to the scene of the crime, there is no evidence that he or his companions were acting suspiciously or attempting to flee. Furthermore, Jean had a reasonable explanation why he was in the neighborhood. Finally, the State’s witnesses did not identify the source of the BOLO, or the BOLO’s description of the suspects. In short, other than the conclusory statement that Jean matched the BOLO’s description of one of the suspects, there was no evidence presented that would provide a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity that would justify the stop and detention. Pantin, 872 So. 2d 1000 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004).
Reversed.
SHAHOOD, C.J., and KLEIN, J., concur. . Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
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Citator
Cited By
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O.B. v. State, 36 So. 3d 784 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)…description. The State says merely that the officers “observed three African-American males in the backyard,” not that they observed them engaging in any criminal or suspicious conduct. O.B. draws parallels between his situation and Jean v. State, 987 So. 2d 196 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), and L.M. v. State, 694 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). In the former case, as here, the officers were dispatched in response to an attempted burglary in a residential neighborhood, it was the middle of the day, and Jean had “a re…
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Young v. State, 33 So. 3d 151 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…also Byrd v. State, 964 So. 2d 806, 806 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007). We also agree with the trial court that the officer initiating the stop had a reasonable suspicion that Young had just committed a crime based upon the factors set forth in Jean v. State, 987 So. 2d 196, 198 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008) (citing Rodriguez v. State, 948 So. 2d 912, 914 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)). In Jean we said: “In determining the legality of a stop as a consequence of a BOLO, this court has looked to factors such as the length of time and distan…
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Sanchez v. State, 199 So. 3d 472 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016)…ant acted suspiciously for the time and place and ran when approached by the officers, which added to reasonable suspicion when the defendant matched the general description of the BOLO); see also Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119, 120 S.Ct. 673, Jean v. State, 987 So. 2d 196 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), Other suspicious conduct that contributes to a reasonable suspicion to stop a person includes: • Profusely sweating. State v. Davis, 849 So. 2d 398 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (finding that nervous behavior and profuse sweating on a co…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (U.S. 1966)
- Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1968)
- Tedd J. Popple v. State, 626 So. 2d 185 (Fla. 1993)
- Backus v. State, 864 So. 2d 1158 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
- Pantin v. State, 872 So. 2d 1000 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- Sapp v. State, 763 So. 2d 1257 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)
- Ikner v. State, 756 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000)
- Howard v. State, 756 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)
- Rodriguez v. State, 948 So. 2d 912 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)