ALFONSO THORNTON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2012-03-07
No. 4D10-963
MAY, C.J., and GROSS, J., concur.
80 So. 3d 1141 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2012) Caution
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Defendant Thornton was convicted of possession with intent to sell cocaine and resisting an officer without violence following a warrantless detention at a strip mall. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the detective lacked reasonable suspicion to detain Thornton because the anonymous tip was vague and contained only innocent details, and Thornton's subsequent conduct did not establish reasonable suspicion.


Holding

No. The detective lacked reasonable suspicion to detain Thornton. The anonymous tip was unreliable and vague, containing only innocent details of behavior, and Thornton's conduct of reaching into the console, appearing nervous, and lying to the detective did not independently establish reasonable suspicion. Because the detention was illegal, the physical evidence should have been suppressed, and the resisting arrest conviction cannot stand because it requires lawful execution of a legal duty.


Headnotes

[1] An anonymous tip, lacking specific allegations of criminal activity and containing only vague descriptions of innocent behavior, is insufficient to establish reasonable s…

[2] A consensual encounter transforms into a seizure when a police officer orders a person to exit a vehicle.

Previewing 2 of 5 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

Key Quotes

“To conduct an investigatory stop, the officer must have reasonable suspicion that the person 'has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime.'”

Establishes the legal standard required for police to conduct a detention

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

An anonymous employee at a strip mall sent an email to police reporting suspicious activity at a closed barber shop, including males with dreadlocks c…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
STEVENSON, J.

STEVENSON, J.

Defendant appeals the denial of his motion to suppress which preceded his convictions for possession with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver cocaine within 1000 feet of a park, community center or recreational facility and resisting an officer without violence. Because Defendant was subjected to a detention not supported by reasonable suspicion, we reverse the convictions.

At Defendant’s motion to suppress hearing, Detective George McLain of the Stuart Police Department testified that he received an email indicating that “suspicious activity” was occurring near a strip mall barber shop that was not yet open for business. The person providing the information was employed in a store in the strip mall, but wished to remain anonymous. The email reported that males, most with dreadlocks, were “congregating” at the barber shop; that people would walk to the front door, make a call and then enter the barber shop through the back door; and that this activity would occur at night and people would leave their cars running while they were in the barber shop. The detective had not previously received complaints regarding the strip mall.

McLain and his partner, Detective Orta-do, drove over to the strip mall around four o’clock in the afternoon and observed Defendant and ten to fifteen males standing near the barber shop. Some of the men had dreadlocks, including Defendant. The men watched the detectives each time they rode by in the police vehicle. When the detectives exited the vehicle, the men entered the barber shop. Ortado followed the men to the barber shop back door and McLain approached Defendant, who was sitting in a parked car with the windows down and doors closed. As McLain walked towards the car, Defendant looked into the center console and then looked up at the detective. McLain saw the console lid open and close, but could not see Defendant’s hands. When McLain reached Defendant and asked him what he had done, Defendant denied going into the console. McLain testified that he asked Defendant to exit the vehicle because he was concerned for officer safety and concerned that there was something “dangerous” in the console. Defendant did not seem to have a problem getting out of the car, but reached back into the console as he was getting out. Defendant turned his body as if to block McLain’s view so McLain moved and observed Defendant “cup” something in his hand and place it into his right pocket. When McLain asked Defendant what he had placed in his pocket, Defendant said “nothing.” Defendant appeared nervous and fidgety and was breathing rapidly. McLain did not observe anything that appeared to be a weapon on Defendant, but told Defendant that he was going to conduct a pat down. When he attempted to do so, Defendant swatted his hand away. Defendant was then arrested. During the subsequent search, crack cocaine was discovered on Defendant, as well as $2000 in cash.

A trial court’s factual findings on a motion to suppress are accorded a presumption of correctness; however, application of the law to the facts is reviewed de novo. See Rigterink v. State, 66 So.3d 866, 884 (Fla.2011). To conduct an investigatory stop, the officer must have reasonable suspicion that the person “ ‘has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime.’ ” M.M. v. State, 72 So.3d 328, 330 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (quoting Fuentes v. State, 24 So.3d 1231, 1234 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)). Whether an officer has reasonable suspicion for a stop depends on the totality *1143of the circumstances, interpreted in consideration of the officer’s knowledge and experience. See Ippolito v. State, 789 So.2d 428, 425 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001).

When Detective McLain asked Defendant to exit the car, a seizure occurred. See Miranda v. State, 816 So.2d 132, 135 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002) (holding that when defendant was ordered out of car, the consensual encounter was transformed into a seizure). However, the detective lacked reasonable suspicion to detain Defendant. The person providing the information in the email wished to remain anonymous, placing the tip very low on the reliability scale. See J.L. v. State, 727 So.2d 204, 206 (Fla.1998) (“Tips from known reliable informants, such as an identifiable citizen who observes criminal conduct and reports it, along with his own identity to the police, will almost invariably be found sufficient to justify police action.”). Further, the tip was vague and contained no allegations of criminal activity, but only “suspicious,” yet innocent, behavior. See Butts v. State, 644 So.2d 605, 606 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (tip failed to provide reasonable suspicion where it “ ‘offered nothing more than innocent details of identification that could have been provided by any pilgrim on the roadway1 ”) (quoting Robinson v. State, 556 So.2d 450, 452 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)). Finally, Defendant’s conduct of reaching into the console, appearing “nervous,” and lying to the detective similarly did not provide reasonable suspicion for the detention. See Johnson v. State, 640 So.2d 226, 227 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994) (officer lacked reasonable suspicion based on defendant telling a lie where, in the late evening, defendant was standing at trunk of car trying to conceal something because lying “is not a crime”); see also Popple v. State, 626 So.2d 185, 186, 188 (Fla.1993) (officer lacked founded suspicion to request defendant to exit vehicle where defendant was near high crime area, sitting in parked car on side of road, appeared nervous, reached underneath his seat and began “flipping” about in the car). McLain never observed anything that appeared to be a weapon on Defendant and we reject the State’s contention that, under the totality of the circumstances, Defendant’s “baggy pants” gave the detective an additional reason to detain Defendant to determine if a weapon may have been concealed therein. Because Detective McLain lacked reasonable suspicion, and due to the lack of any intervening circumstances, the physical evidence discovered during the subsequent pat down should have been suppressed. See, e.g., Wells v. State, 975 So.2d 1235, 1238 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008) (“Under the ‘fruit of the poisonous tree’ doctrine, the exclusionary rule bars the admission at trial of physical evidence ... obtained directly or indirectly through the exploitation of the police illegality.”).

Lastly, since the detention was illegal, the detective was not engaged in the “lawful” execution of a legal duty so as to support the resisting without violence conviction. See § 843.02, Fla. Stat. (2008) (“Whoever shall resist ... any officer ... in the lawful execution of any legal duty, without offering or doing violence to the person of the officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree....”); Jay v. State, 731 So.2d 774, 775 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (“An essential element of resisting an officer without violence is that the arrest is lawful.”). Accordingly, we reverse the instant convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to sell (count I) and resisting arrest without violence (count II), and direct that on remand Defendant be discharged.

Reversed and remanded.

MAY, C.J., and GROSS, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Saivon K. Cruse, 121 So. 3d 91 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013)
    …Mitchell v. State, 787 So. 2d 224, 229 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (finding reasonable suspicion where the incident took place in a high crime area, the officer knew of recent drug sales in the area, and the suspect attempted to flee) with Thornton v. State, 80 So. 3d 1141, 1142 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) (finding no reasonable suspicion where the officer observed a group of ten to fifteen men standing in front of a barbershop in the middle of the afternoon); Daniels v. State, 543 So. 2d 363 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (finding no r…
  • Fritz G. Pamphile v. State, 110 So. 3d 517 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
    …d 185, 186 (Fla.1993); § 901.151(2), Fla. Stat. (2008). “Whether an officer has reasonable suspicion for a stop depends on the totality of the circumstances, interpreted in consideration of the officer’s knowledge and experience.” Thornton v. State, 80 So. 3d 1141, 1142-43 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012) (citation omitted). Based on the totality of the circumstances — interpreted in consideration of the agents/officers’ knowledge and experience — which were presented by the State at the suppression hearing, we conclude…

Authorities Cited (12 total)

View all 12 cited authorities →

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw