Andrews v. State

536 So. 2d 1108, 1988 WL 131596
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided December 14, 1988·No. 4-86-0570·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

536 So.2d 1108 (1988)

Scott Kenneth ANDREWS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 4-86-0570.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

December 14, 1988.
Rehearing Denied, Certification Denied and Stay Denied February 8, 1989.

*1109 Howard M. Zeidwig of Howard M. Zeidwig, P.A., and Douglas J. Glaid of Douglas J. Glaid, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Amy L. Diem, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

EN BANC.

I

This case is being decided en banc as a matter of great public importance so that the trial courts of this district will not make ad hoc decisions, at variance with one another upon the question whether an instruction is to be given to the jury upon the issue of "willful blindness" or "deliberate avoidance of positive knowledge"; and if so, what instruction.

We have considered and rejected the notion that the instruction should not be given at all and address the proper content of the instruction and the circumstances in which it should be given.

The first Florida case discussing the doctrine of willful blindness appears to be Wetzler v. State, 455 So.2d 511 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). The Wetzler opinion acknowledged the thorough discussion of the doctrine in the federal case of United States v. Jewell, 532 F.2d 697 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 951, 96 S.Ct. 3173, 49 L.Ed.2d 1188 (1976). Subsequent federal cases involving the doctrine, listed chronologically, include United States v. Valle-Valdez, 554 F.2d 911 (9th Cir.1977), United States v. Morales, 577 F.2d 769 (2d Cir.1978), United States v. Batencort, 592 F.2d 916 (5th Cir.1979), United States v. Mohabir, 624 F.2d 1140 (2d Cir.1980, United States v. Rada-Solano, 625 F.2d 577 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1021, 101 S.Ct. 588, 66 L.Ed.2d 482 (1980), United States v. Suttiswad, 696 F.2d 645 (9th Cir.1982), United States v. Aleman, 728 F.2d 492 (11th Cir.1984), and United States v. McAllister, 747 F.2d 1273 (9th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 829, 106 S.Ct. 92, 88 L.Ed.2d 76 (1985). A Jewell instruction is generally authorized in the federal courts in prosecutions for importation of or trafficking in controlled substances.

Because the instruction given in the present case was inadequate in contrast to those approved in the above cases, we reverse and remand. Bench and bar are urged to review the above cases for model instructions that are adequate.

The facts in the present case show their factual similarity to the federal cases, and thus the appropriateness of giving a proper instruction on willful blindness. Here, on May 7, 1984, Deputy Roy DeLong was stationed at an airline security point in the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. On that day, he noticed that appellant placed a suitcase on the x-ray machine conveyor belt. Having observed two oval shaped objects in the suitcase, DeLong asked that the suitcase be put through the machine again.

*1110 After the appellant walked through the metal detector machine, DeLong asked him what the two oval objects were. Appellant replied that they were a pair of sneakers. DeLong picked up the suitcase, and asked appellant for identification. Appellant did not have identification. However, the name tag on the suitcase said Clarice P. Andrews, 2 Flanders Lane, Wakefield, Massachusetts. Upon questioning, appellant stated that this name was his mother's.

At that point, DeLong called his supervisor, Sergeant Bret Sagenkahn, who questioned the appellant. After DeLong read appellant his Miranda rights, appellant and the deputies went downstairs to a small sheriff's office in the airport. Appellant was reluctant to speak without an attorney, but eventually, he did consent to talk without an attorney. Eventually, the appellant allowed the deputies to search the suitcase, which contained cocaine.

Prior to trial, appellant testified at the hearing on his motion to suppress that he came to Florida on May 7th to pick up a suitcase in the trunk of a cab at a hotel across from the Fort Lauderdale airport. According to appellant, he was to bring the suitcase back to Massachusetts and place it in a trunk of a car at a dog track. He was to get the money owed to him from the outside pocket of the suitcase.

Appellant further testified that the suitcase was not his; he had not bought the bag nor packed it; and that he did not have the keys to the bag. However, he did testify that he intended to keep possession of the suitcase at all times, and intended to carry it onto the plane.

II

The other aspect of this case did not require en banc consideration; but also requires reversal due to additional harmful error.

Appellant argues that the trial court did not conduct a proper evidentiary hearing on his motion to suppress, in that there was no inquiry respecting the substantive fourth amendment issues involved in the case. According to appellant, the trial court merely determined whether the appellant had standing to challenge the introduction of the evidence. Therefore, appellant contends that the denial of the motion to suppress must be reversed and remanded for a proper evidentiary hearing. We agree.

In the instant case, the trial court denied the motion to suppress before rendition of the Florida Supreme Court's ruling in Dean v. State, 478 So.2d 38 (Fla. 1985) was issued. Prior to Dean, in determining a motion to dismiss, standing was considered separately before the substantive fourth amendment issues. However, in Dean, the Florida Supreme court receded from treating standing as a separate inquiry, and instead, adopted the Rakas[1] analysis that "the determination of whether the proponent of a motion to suppress is entitled to contest the legality of a search and seizure must take into consideration the substantive fourth amendment issues as well as the concept of standing." 478 So.2d at 41.

In the case at bar, during the suppression hearing, the trial judge heard testimony only from the appellant as to the ownership of the bag in question. (Deputy Roy DeLong began his testimony, but was interrupted, and not allowed to continue, because the trial judge made his ruling on the motion to suppress). After hearing that the suitcase was not appellant's, that he had not bought the bag nor packed it, and that he did not have the keys to the bag, the trial judge denied the motion to suppress, on the basis that the appellant did not have standing.

The state argues that this inquiry by the court was sufficient, because it showed that the rights of this particular defendant had not been violated; therefore he cannot challenge the search. Basically, the state is arguing that because the facts *1111

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Andrews v. State, 536 So. 2d 1108, 1988 WL 131596 (Fla. Ct. App. 1988).

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