WILLIAM T. BENNETT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
The court held that the police lacked probable cause to stop or search the appellant's vehicle, thus the evidence found was inadmissible.
[1] A stop and detention of a vehicle is unlawful when police have no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
[2] A computer check on a vehicle and its occupant is an unlawful seizure when conducted without reasonable suspicion.
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 intelligenceFollowing a vague tip about a potential robbery, police stopped the appellant's car without any specific suspicion of criminal activity. While running…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Possession Of Marijuana cases and more on FLexlaw
DAUKSCH, Judge.
The Appellant was convicted of a felony, possession of marijuana, to which he pleaded nolo contendere after having his Motion to Suppress denied. He specifically reserved his right to appeal the Order denying the Motion to Suppress when he entered his plea of nolo contendere.
The facts are that an employee of a restaurant received a telephone call early in the day saying that the restaurant may be robbed. Appellant and his friends came to the restaurant later and “looked suspicious” to the restaurant employee though he could not articulate anything particularly suspicious. The employee called the police who responded immediately. The police in observing the Appellant first saw that he was talking on the telephone and then observed him pay his check and leave the restaurant. Policemen testified they saw nothing of a suspicious nature in the actions of the Appellant and further stated that they observed one of Appellant’s companions leave in an automobile. The police made no effort to detain the companion.
Police testified they had no suspicion any robbery had been committed or any suspicion that any robbery or any other crime was going to be committed. Notwithstanding all of that, the Appellant’s car was blocked from leaving the restaurant while a computer check was run on the Appellant’s automobile and the Appellant. The police testified that the principal purpose for detaining the Appellant was to have a name to put in the report about the incident.
Appellant’s car was connected to a boat and trailer. While the computer check was being conducted one of the policemen, idly walking about with nothing better to do, shined a light into the boat and saw a lid of marijuana.
The police had no probable cause to stop the Appellant, arrest the Appellant or search anything belonging to the Appellant. They did not even have any suspicion in regard to any of the activities of the Appellant or anyone else. Bailey v. State, 319 So. 2d 22 (Fla.1975).
The conviction of the Appellant is REVERSED.
CROSS and LETTS, JJ., concur.