OLLIE BONNER, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Ollie Bonner appeals his conviction for unlawfully removing, depositing, and concealing untaxed alcoholic beverages, challenging both the validity of the search warrant and the sufficiency of evidence. The Florida Supreme Court affirms, holding that the search warrant's description of the premises was adequate despite including a reference to Pensacola when the property was actually outside city limits, and that sufficient evidence supported the jury verdict.
The search warrant was valid because its description uniquely identified the premises and led officers directly to it without difficulty, satisfying constitutional requirements. The jury had adequate evidence to support the guilty verdict, and evidentiary conflicts were properly resolved by the jury.
“Any designation or description known to the locality that points out the place to the exclusion of all others, and on inquiry leads the officer unerringly to it, satisfies the constitutional requirement.”
Establishes the standard for sufficiency of property description in search warrants under the Fourth Amendment
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOllie Bonner was convicted by jury in Escambia County of unlawfully removing, depositing, and concealing untaxed alcoholic beverages. A search of the …
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TPIORNAL, Justice.
Ollie Bonner was convicted by a jury in the Court of Record of Escambia County of the offense of unlawfully “Removing, Depositing and Concealing Untaxed Alcoholic Beverages”. He appeals from a sentence of eighteen months in the State Prison.
Appellant relies heavily on an alleged defect in a search warrant and supporting affidavit which described the, premises to be searched as follows:
“Being a one story frame dwelling house painted white trim in Green being located on East Cross Street in Pensacola, Florida, said house bearing number 200 the said house being on the north side of East Cross Street facing South and all building within its premises in Pensacola, County of Escambia, State of Florida.”
It is shown that the premises are located outside the city limits of Pensacola. It is contended that the inclusion of Pensacola as a part of the address invalidates the search warrant; that all evidence obtained by the search, to wit: seizure of sixteen gallons of moonshine, should be expunged from the record, thereby leaving the prosecution with no evidence of the offense charged.
It is shown that there is only one Cross Street in Escambia County and there is no evidence that the searching officers had the slightest difficulty in locating the address described in the warrant. Indeed, appellant himself actually testified that he had lived at this place “ever since he had been in Pensacola
We are thoroughly aware of the traditional prescriptions guarding against unlawful searches and seizures and we adhere to them. However, it is equally well established that “Any designation or description known to the locality that points out the place to the exclusion of all others, and on inquiry leads the officer unerringly to it, satisfies the constitutional requirement.” See 47 Am.Jur. 522, Sufficiency of Description, Sec. 35; Jackson v. State, 87 Fla. 262, 99 So. 548. Such a description therefore meets all of the historical safeguards. The ‘ affidavit and warrant in the instant case were sufficient to sustain the search.
Reversal is also sought on the ground that the evidence was insufficient.to support the verdict and judgment. It was the province of the jury to resolve any evidentiary conflicts. We find that the jury had adequate evidence before it to support the verdict of guilty.
Judgment affirmed.
DREW, C. J., TERRELL, J., and JONES, Associate Justice, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Lennie Lee Joyner v. City OF Lakeland, 90 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 1956)…vered for execution that the place to be searched was within the city of Lakeland. The warrant should be read as a whole, Lowrey v. U. S., 8 Cir., 161 F. 2d 30, certiorari denied, 331 U.S. 849, 67 S.Ct. 1737, 91 L.Ed. 1858. In Bonner v. State, Fla., 80 So. 2d 683, 684, we stated in part: “ ‘Any designation or description known to the locality that points out the place to the exclusion of all others, and on inquiry leads the officers unerringly to it, ■satisfies the constitutional requirement.’ ” It is eviden…
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State v. Gallo, 279 So. 2d 71 (Fla. 2d DCA 1973)…ed States v. Pisano, S.D.N.Y.1961, 191 F.Supp. 861; United States v. Sklaroff, S.D.Fla.1971, 323 F.Supp. 296, 319; see Annotation, 11 A.L.R.3rd 1330; and was of such a minor nature as not to invalidate the search warrant; Bonner v. State, Fla. 1955, 80 So. 2d 683; Smith v. State, Fla. App. 1966, 182 So. 2d 461. By stating that the apartment was “under the custody and control of one Richard H. Kranz” the warrant designated one particular place to be searched to the exclusion of all others, and an officer, wi…
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Smith v. State, 182 So. 2d 461 (Fla. 2d DCA 1966)…t City. We believe the description in the affidavit and warrant sufficient where the searching officer had kept the house under surveillance the previous evening and could locate it as described with certainty. See, Bonner v. [*464] State, Fla.1955, 80 So. 2d 683, where the search warrant was sufficient, though slightly incorrect, when, as here, the officer knowing the locality could find the proper designated dwelling without error. Affirmed. LILES, J., and DOWNEY, JAMES C, Associate Judge, concur.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Jackson v. State, 87 Fla. 262 (Fla. 1924)