RICHARD RAY LOWER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Richard Ray Lower, a passenger in a stopped vehicle, challenges the validity of his arrest for marijuana possession following a warrantless search. The court holds that the initial traffic stop lacked any founded or reasonable suspicion to justify it, making the evidence obtained from the search inadmissible as fruit of an improper exercise of police power.
The court holds that the stop was invalid because there was insufficient basis for founded or reasonable suspicion. The circumstances—a parked vehicle in a closed business area that left when a police cruiser drove by—were insufficient to justify a reasonable conclusion that the occupants were involved in criminal activity.
[1] An investigatory stop of a vehicle is invalid if it is not predicated on a founded or reasonable suspicion that the occupants have committed, are committing, or are about…
[2] An automobile parked in a business area after all businesses have closed, which departs when a police cruiser drives by at a faster than average rate of speed, does not,…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A valid investigatory stop of a vehicle must be predicated on "a founded or reasonable suspicion which requires further investigation" to determine whether its occupants have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime.”
Establishes the legal standard for valid investigatory vehicle stops under Florida law and the Fourth Amendment
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn July 4, 1976, at approximately 12:52 a.m., Deputy Dixon observed an automobile parked in a closed business area in Sarasota. When the vehicle backe…
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BOARDMAN, Chief Judge.
Appellant/defendant, Richard Ray Lower, challenges the validity of the stop of an automobile in which he was a passenger. The stop resulted in a warrantless search and his arrest for possession of more than five grams of marijuana, a controlled substance. We hold that there was insufficient basis for a founded or reasonable suspicion which would justify the stop. It was, therefore, invalid and we reverse.
At approximately 12:52 a. m. on July 4, 1976, Deputy Dixon observed an automobile parked in the parking lot of a business area in Sarasota. All of the businesses in the area were closed; none had remained open past midnight. As Dixon drove by in his police cruiser, the automobile backed out of its parking place and pulled away, at what he testified was “a faster than average rate of speed.” Dixon followed the vehicle for a short distance and stopped it. The driver had committed no traffic infraction, and no “lookouts” had been issued for the vehicle.
Dixon walked over to the car and asked the driver, Mr. Lamb, for his driver’s license and auto registration. As he did so, Dixon noticed “a very, very slight oder [sic] of old marijuana smoke.” He asked Lamb to get out of the car and proceeded to frisk him. While frisking Lamb, he felt what he believed to be a baggie in his pocket, which he removed. The baggie contained marijuana. Deputy Dixon placed Lamb under arrest. Dixon then asked appellant, one of the passengers in the car, whether he had any marijuana. Appellant replied that he had about half a lid, whereupon he pulled a baggie of marijuana out of his pocket and handed it to the police officer. Dixon then searched and arrested appellant.
A valid investigatory stop of a vehicle must be predicated on “a founded or reasonable suspicion which requires further investigation” to determine whether its occupants have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime. Lewis v. State, 337 So. 2d 1031, 1032 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Section 901.151, Florida Statutes (1975). See also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. Othen, 300 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974). The circumstances of this case, that is, the automobile was parked in a parking lot, the businesses surrounding it were closed, and the car left the lot when Deputy Dixon drove by, were insufficient to justify a reasonable conclusion that the occupants of the car were involved in any criminal activity. Under these circumstances the stop was improper, and, therefore, the evidence seized by Dixon from appellant was the fruit of an improper exercise of police power and should have been suppressed. Stanley v. State, 327 So. 2d 243 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976). Reversed and remanded to the trial court with directions to enter an order suppressing the evidence seized from appellant.
HOBSON and GRIMES, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (22 total)
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State v. Stevens, 354 So. 2d 1244 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)…e at night, or looking or pointing at policemen, or pulling out of a parking lot when the police come into view, with nothing more, is insufficient to justify an individual’s detention. Coladonato v. State, 348 So. 2d 326 (Fla.1977); Lower v. State, 348 So. 2d 410 (Fla.2d DCA 1977); Stanley v. State, 327 So. 2d 243 (Fla.2d DCA 1976); Vollmer v. State, 337 So. 2d 1024 (Fla.2d DCA 1976). In the present case, however, there were numerous factors which, when interpreted in the light of Officer Ludwig’s knowledge…
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McCLOUD v. State, 491 So. 2d 1164 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)…an automobile. The stop of the vehicle “must be predicated on a founded or reasonable suspicion which requires further investigation to determine whether its occupants have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime.” Lower v. State, 348 So. 2d 410, 411 (Fla.2d DCA 1977). See also sec. 901.151, Fla.Stat. (1975) (“stop and frisk”) and Terry. Later decisions of this court have framed the issue as, “whether the deputy had a well-founded suspicion that [the suspect] had been engaged in criminal ac…
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Levie Codie v. State, 406 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981)…r in the side parking lot of a closed filling station adjacent to a public highway at midnight is enough to give a passing deputy a well-founded suspicion of criminal activity. See McClure v. State, 358 So. 2d 1187 (Fla.2d DCA 1978); Lower v. State, 348 So. 2d 410 (Fla.2d DCA 1977).…
Previewing 3 of 22 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1968)
- Lewis v. State, 337 So. 2d 1031 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)
- State v. Othen, 300 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)
- Stanley v. State, 327 So. 2d 243 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)