DONALD BLACK, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2014-07-11
No. 2D13-4834
KHOUZAM, J., and BAUMANN, HERBERT J., Jr., Associate Judge, Concur.
141 So. 3d 769 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2014)

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Synopsis

Donald Black challenges his conviction for methamphetamine possession after pleading guilty while reserving the right to appeal the denial of his suppression motion. The court reversed his conviction, finding that officers lacked probable cause to arrest him for petit theft, the underlying basis for the search that discovered the methamphetamine.


Holding

Officers lacked probable cause to arrest Black for petit theft. The vague and conclusory testimony that Black was "concealing" items in his shopping cart, without detailed information about how items were concealed or any evidence of an attempt to leave without purchasing items, does not rise to the level of probable cause necessary for warrantless arrest.


Headnotes

[1] Probable cause for a warrantless arrest requires more than vaguely suspicious behavior; it demands specific facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to…

[2] The fellow officer rule permits an officer to rely on information relayed by another officer, even in misdemeanor arrests, to establish probable cause.

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Key Quotes

“While Black's actions may have been vaguely suspicious, they do not rise to the level of probable cause necessary for warrantless arrest.”

States the core holding that suspicious conduct alone is insufficient for probable cause

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Facts & Procedural History

Black was arrested upon exiting a Sears department store after officers received an "in progress" theft call. Officer Maultsby testified that Black wa…

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Opinion of the Court
BLACK, Judge.

BLACK, Judge.

Donald Black challenges his judgment and sentence for possession of methamphetamine. He pleaded to the charge but reserved his right to appeal the denial of a dispositive motion to suppress. Because we conclude that officers lacked probable cause to arrest Black, we reverse the denial of the suppression motion, reverse Black’s judgment and sentence, and remand for his discharge.

Black was charged with felony petit theft, resisting an officer without violence, and possession of methamphetamine. All of the charges stemmed from Black’s arrest upon leaving a Sears department store. Black filed a motion to suppress the methamphetamine found on his person following his arrest for petit theft. The motion was denied, and Black proceeded to trial only on the petit theft and resisting charges. A jury acquitted him, and Black subsequently pleaded to the possession charge but preserved for appeal the denial of his suppression motion.

Testimony at the suppression hearing established that officers received an “in progress” theft call. According to Officer Maultsby, who testified at the suppression hearing, one officer went inside the store, met with the loss prevention employee, and watched the store’s security monitors. Officer Maultsby remained outside in the *770store’s parking lot. He stated that the inside officer relayed Black’s description and activities to him. Black was walking between merchandise racks, selecting items, and placing them in a shopping cart. Officer Maultsby testified that he was told Black was placing items in the cart and “concealing” them. There was no further explanation of Black’s activities in the store.

Officer Maultsby was later advised that Black was exiting the store through a particular door. He testified that upon Black’s exit into the parking lot, he announced himself as a police officer and told Black to get on the ground. Officer Maultsby had his Taser out, and he had already decided that he was “going to take [Black] down.” Black did not have any items in his hands nor did he have the shopping cart.

As he did at the suppression hearing, Black argues on appeal that the officers lacked probable cause to arrest him for petit theft.1 Only Officer Maultsby testified at the suppression hearing, and he did not provide detailed information about Black’s actions inside the store. He stated only that Black was moving in and out among the merchandise racks, placing items in his shopping cart, and “concealing” them. There was no evidence as to how Black was concealing items or what precisely that meant. Additionally, there was no evidence that Black attempted to remove anything from the store without purchasing it. While Black’s actions may have been vaguely suspicious, they do not rise to the level of probable cause necessary for warrantless arrest. See, e.g., Wright v. State, 126 So.3d 420, 424 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013).

As a result, Black’s motion to suppress should have been granted. We reverse the judgment and sentence and remand for his discharge.

KHOUZAM, J., and BAUMANN, HERBERT J., Jr., Associate Judge, Concur.


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