A.R. v. State

127 So. 3d 650, 2013 WL 6081894, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 18423
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 20, 2013
DocketNo. 4D12-2105
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 127 So. 3d 650 (A.R. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A.R. v. State, 127 So. 3d 650, 2013 WL 6081894, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 18423 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

TAYLOR, J.

Appellant argues that his motion for judgment of dismissal on the charge of resisting an officer without violence should have been granted. We agree, because the arresting officers’ bare assertion that they were “investigating a possible crime” did not establish reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain appellant. Thus, the state failed to establish that the officers were acting in the execution of a legal process or duty — an essential element of resisting without violence. We therefore reverse and remand with instructions to discharge appellant.

Appellant was charged by juvenile delinquency petition with attempted robbery (Count I) and resisting an officer without violence (Count II). The evidence at trial established that at about 4:00 p.m. on February 1, 2012, two Boynton Beach police officers were “investigating a possible crime that had taken place” in a public park. Officer Haugh, who was in the area of the park, testified that he spoke with someone about a possible crime that was committed. He then spoke with Officer Medeiros over the radio, prompting Officer Medeiros to pull into the parking lot of the playground area and approach appellant.

Officer Medeiros, who was dressed in full police gear, stepped out of his marked car. Appellant looked at Officer Medeiros, turned away, and started running. Officer Medeiros identified himself as a police officer and yelled for appellant to stop. Officer Medeiros ran parallel to appellant, maintaining a distance of “twenty yards or so.” He yelled a total of about three times for appellant to stop. Meanwhile, Officer Haugh, who was about 50 to 70 yards away, could “clearly hear” Officer Medei-ros yelling.

[653]*653Appellant gave up and surrendered after he entered an enclosed area of the park. He was then taken into custody without further incident.

The state rested and appellant moved for a judgment of dismissal as to the attempted robbery charge. The state conceded that it failed to present evidence to support Count I, and the trial court therefore granted dismissal of the attempted robbery charge.

Defense counsel also moved for a judgment of dismissal as to the charge of resisting an officer without violence (Count II), arguing in relevant part that the state failed to prove there was a lawful basis to detain appellant. The trial court denied the motion for judgment of dismissal on the resisting count. After closing arguments, the judge found appellant guilty of resisting without violence, stating that “it is the lawful duty of an officer [to investigate] crime.”

The court withheld adjudication and placed appellant on probation.

On appeal, appellant argues that the trial court should have granted his motion for judgment of dismissal, because the state failed to prove that the officer who detained him was engaged in the lawful execution of a legal duty. Appellant asserts that an officer’s mere investigation of crime while on the job is not one of the limited duties — such as serving process, legally detaining a person, or assisting in an emergency — that will support an obstruction charge. Moreover, appellant maintains that the assertion that the officers “were investigating a possible crime” was so broad that the lower court lacked any basis for determining whether the attempt to detain appellant was based on reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Finally, appellant argues that his mere flight did not give rise to a reasonable suspicion that he was engaged in criminal activity where there was no evidence that he was in a high crime area.

The state argues in response that the police were engaged in the lawful execution of a legal duty by conducting a criminal investigation and that appellant resisted them by running away. The state further argues that “the police were clearly engaged in the lawful execution of a legal duty because they had reasonable suspicion to stop appellant.” The state suggests that “if headlong flight from the police in a high-crime area, standing alone, provides the police with reasonable suspicion to support an investigatory stop, then headlong from the police when they arrive at the scene of an alleged crime also provides the police with reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop.” The state thus maintains that the trial court properly denied appellant’s motion for judgment of dismissal.

“Similar to a judgment of acquittal in a criminal case, the standard of review applicable to a motion for judgment of dismissal in a juvenile case is de novo.” E.F. v. State, 110 So.3d 101, 104 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013). A motion for judgment of dismissal, like a motion for judgment of acquittal, tests the legal sufficiency of the state’s evidence. T.L.T. v. State, 53 So.3d 1100, 1102 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). “If the trial evidence taken in a light most favorable to the state does not support a conviction, the motion must be granted.” J.P. v. State, 855 So.2d 1262, 1264 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003).

A conviction for resisting an officer without violence requires proof that “(1) the officer was engaged in the lawful execution of a legal duty; and (2) the actions of the defendant obstructed, resisted or opposed the officer in the performance of that legal duty.” A.W. v. State, 82 So.3d 1136, 1138 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). [654]*654Regarding whether the officer was performing a legal duty, there is a valid distinction between a police officer in the lawful execution of a legal duty and a police officer who is merely on the job. Jay v. State, 731 So.2d 774, 775 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). Examples of the lawful execution of a legal duty include: 1) serving process; 2) legally detaining a person; or 3) asking for assistance in an emergency situation.1 Id. Our court has also held that an officer’s investigation of a 911 call constitutes the lawful execution of a legal duty. Francis v. State, 736 So.2d 97, 99 n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).

In resisting cases involving an investigatory detention, the state must prove that the officer had a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. A.W., 82 So.3d at 1138. As the Third District has stated: “The element of lawful execution of a legal duty is satisfied if an officer has either a founded suspicion to stop the person or probable cause to make a warrant-less arrest. Otherwise, the individual has a right to ignore the police and go about his business.” O.B. v. State, 36 So.3d 784, 786 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) (citations and internal quotations omitted).

To justify an investigatory stop, there must be a well-founded, articulable suspicion of criminal activity. Popple v. State, 626 So.2d 185, 186 (Fla.1993). Headlong flight in a high crime area is sufficient to provide an officer with reasonable suspicion. See Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119, 124-25, 120 S.Ct. 673, 145 L.Ed.2d 570 (2000). Applying Wardlow, the Florida Supreme Court has held that a suspect’s continued flight, within a high crime area, in defiance of a police officer’s verbal order to stop, constitutes the offense of resisting without violence under section 843.02, Florida Statutes. See C.E.L. v. State, 24 So.3d 1181, 1185-89 (Fla.2009).

But flight, standing alone, is not sufficient to establish reasonable suspicion where there is no evidence to demonstrate that the flight took place in a high crime area. R.J.C. v. State, 84 So.3d 1250, 1256 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012); O.B. v. State, 36 So.3d 784, 788 (Fla.

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Bluebook (online)
127 So. 3d 650, 2013 WL 6081894, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 18423, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ar-v-state-fladistctapp-2013.