PAUL O. SHAFFER, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Paul Shaffer's conviction for intoxication was reversed because his arrest in his own bedroom was a pretextual pretext to search for and seize stolen money. The court held that the warrantless arrest violated the Fourth Amendment, rendering the seized evidence inadmissible under Wong Sun v. United States.
Shaffer's conviction cannot stand because his arrest for drunkenness was pretextual and unlawful. The arrest was made without probable cause to believe he committed the theft, and there was no lawful basis for the custodial arrest in his private bedroom. Therefore, the money seized as a result of this unlawful arrest is inadmissible evidence.
[1] An arrest for public intoxication made in the privacy of a suspect's home, without probable cause to believe the suspect committed a felony, is a pretextual arrest invali…
[2] Evidence seized incident to an unlawful arrest is inadmissible under the exclusionary rule.
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“Shaffer's arrest for drunkenness in the privacy of his own room was patently a pretext on which to make a search and seize the stolen money.”
Establishes the court's core finding that the arrest was pretextual rather than based on genuine probable cause for drunkenness.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceShaffer disappeared from his job at Arby's in St. Petersburg along with a substantial sum of money. A police officer was admitted to a house where Sha…
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MANN, Chief Judge.
Shaffer worked at Arby’s in St. Peters-burg until he and a substantial sum of money disappeared at approximately the same time. A police officer went looking for him and was admitted to the house in which he stayed. Three 18-year old boys who rented the place said that Shaffer was a guest there and that the policeman might go in and talk with him. The policeman entered Shaffer’s bedro.om and woke him up. He also states that he “got him on his feet.” Shaffer was very unsteady and could hardly stand by himself. Asked his name, he gave the wrong one. He did give the correct social security number, however. Then, says the officer, “I arrested him for drunk (sic) after talking to him and him giving me the false information.” Thereafter, he frisked Shaffer and took him to the police station and booked him for intoxication. At the police station he was searched and a sum of money slightly less than that stolen from Arby’s was taken from his person. His motion to suppress this evidence was denied. A plea of nolo contendere, reserving the-right to take this appeal, followed.
This conviction cannot stand. Shaffer’s arrest for drunkenness in the privacy of his own room was patently a pretext on which to make a search and seize the stolen money. There is no claim that the money was in plain view or that it was, though concealed on Shaffer’s person, discernible by the officer’s senses at a place where he had a right to be,1 nor is there any effort to ground this arrest upon probable cause to believe that Shaffer was a thief. There is every reason to believe that a slight amount of additional detective work would have authorized an arrest on probable cause. What we have here is a purely pretextual arrest condemned in a long line of Florida cases cited in State v. Holmes.2 There is no ground for any belief by a reasonable person that an ordinary citizen in Shaffer’s circumstances would be arrested for drunkenness.3
We need not reach the question whether, in so far as it purports to apply to drunkenness in the privacy of one’s home, Fla.Stat. § 856.01, F.S.A. (1971)4 is unconstitutional.5
The seizure of the money from Shaffer’s person upon his being unlawfully arrested rendered that tangible evidence inadmissible under the doctrine of Wong Sun v. U. S.,6 a custodial arrest of Shaffer being totally unjustifiable under the circumstances.7
It is regrettable that decisions with which police officers generally ought to be familiar were ignored, especially when a minimum of investigation might have yielded probable cause to make a felony ar rest. Now the State must go to trial without the evidence which it otherwise would have.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
BOARDMAN and GRIMES, JJ., concur. . State v. Johnson, Fla.App.2d 1970, 239 So. 2d 877.
. Fla.App.2d 1971, 256 So. 2d 32.
. See, Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 1886, 188 U.S. 356, 6 S.Ct. 1064, 30 L.Ed. 220.
. “Whoever shall be or become drunk from the voluntary use of intoxicating liquors or drugs shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second .degree, punishable as provided in §§ 775.082 or 775.083; but no prosecution shall be instituted after six months after the commission of the offense.”
. See, Powell v. Texas, 1968, 392 U.S. 514, 88 S.Ct. 2145, 20 L.Ed.2d 1254.
. 1963, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441.
. See, the concurring opinions of Justices Stewart and Powell in Gustafson v. Ma, 1973, 414 U.S. 260, 94 S.Ct. 488 at 492 and 494, 38 L.Ed.2d 456. See also, Davis v. Mississippi, 1969, 394 U.S. 721, 89 S.Ct. 1394, 22 L.Ed.2d 676. See, generally, Note, The Revolving Door Cycle in Florida, 20 U.Fla.L. Rev. 344.
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Adams v. State, 295 So. 2d 114 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)…gainst him and, presumably from the evidence, all the other precautions which are necessary to be preserved were in this case.” Of course tangible evidence seized as the fruit of a sham arrest would be suppressible. Shaffer v. State, Fla.App. 1974, 295 So. 2d 677. But these defendants were charged almost immediately with the felony which was in the minds of the police officers at the outset. We think there was probable cause to make the arrest. The automobile was described as particularly as any witness coul…
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Jones v. State, 313 So. 2d 105 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)…ounty judge ordered in good faith that defendant be incarcerated for 10 days in the county jail and thus it cannot be said that this detention was patently a pretext on which ta make a search and seize the pistol. Cf. Shaffer v. State, Fla.App.1974, 295 So. 2d 677. Accordingly, the order denying the motion to suppress must be and hereby is affirmed.…
Authorities Cited
- Wong SUN v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (U.S. 1963)
- Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356 (U.S. 1886)
- Davis v. Mississippi, 394 U.S. 721 (U.S. 1969)
- Cannon v. United States, 118 U.S. 355 (U.S. 1886)
- Powell v. Texas, 392 U.S. 514 (U.S. 1968)
- Pope v. United States, 392 U.S. 651 (U.S. 1968)
- Gustafson v. Florida, 414 U.S. 260 (U.S. 1973)
- State v. Holmes, 256 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971)
- State v. Nerry Johnson, 239 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970)