Brown v. State

392 So. 2d 280
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided December 2, 1980·No. AA-179·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

392 So.2d 280 (1980)

Charles Hugh BROWN, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. AA-179.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

December 2, 1980.
Rehearing Denied February 3, 1981.

Norman J. Abood, Jacksonville, Judith A. Bass and Theodore L. Tripp, Jr., of Simon, Schindler & Tripp, Miami, and Richard C. McFarlain, Tallahassee, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Wallace E. Allbritton, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

McCORD, Judge.

On June 15, 1977, we rendered our decision affirming the trial court without opinion on this appeal. Thereafter, upon appellant's petition, the Supreme Court of Florida denied certiorari and subsequently denied petition for rehearing. Appellant then petitioned the United States Supreme Court for writ of certiorari to review this court's *281 decision and on April 21, 1980, that court entered its order and mandate granting the petition for writ of certiorari, vacating our judgment and remanding the case to this court for further consideration in light of Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). We subsequently received from the parties briefs on the applicability of Payton and in compliance with the Supreme Court's mandate have reconsidered this cause. We reverse and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

The trial court adjudged appellant guilty of possession of more than five grams of marijuana with intent to sell and guilty of possession of a device, contrivance, instrument, or paraphernalia, to wit: a pipe, with intent that said device be used for unlawfully administering marijuana. The convictions were rendered following nolo contendere pleas by appellant with reservation of his right to appeal the trial court's order denying his motion to suppress evidence. The evidence sought to be suppressed consisted of articles seized at appellant's home and premises at the time of the arrest of appellant and other persons and articles subsequently seized upon execution of a search warrant to search the "premises together with the yard and curtilage thereof ..." Appellant contends the articles were unlawfully seized because the seizure resulted from an unlawful arrest; that the arrests of him and others in his home were unlawful because they were made without a warrant and without the existence of exigent circumstances to justify entering his home without a warrant.

As pointed out in Payton, Florida is one of 24 states which have, until the Payton decision, permitted warrantless entry into the home to arrest even in the absence of exigent circumstances (445 U.S. 598, 100 S.Ct 1386, 63 L.Ed.2d 658). By its ruling in Payton, the Supreme Court, for the first time, holds warrantless nonconsensual entry into a home for the purpose of making a routine felony arrest to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution in the absence of exigent circumstances justifying such entry. In so ruling, the Supreme Court said:

But the critical point is that any differences in the intrusiveness of entries to search and entries to arrest are merely ones of degree rather than kind. The two intrusions share this fundamental characteristic: the breach of the entrance to an individual's home. The Fourth Amendment protects the individual's privacy in a variety of settings. In none is the zone of privacy more clearly defined than when bounded by the unambiguous physical dimensions of an individual's home — a zone that finds its roots in clear and specific constitutional terms: "The right of the people to be secure in their ... houses ... shall not be violated." That language unequivocally establishes the proposition that "[a]t the very core [of the Fourth Amendment] stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable Government intrusion." Silverman v. United States, 365 U.S. 505, 511, [81 S.Ct. 679, 682] 5 L.Ed.2d 734, 97 A.L.R.2d 1277. In terms that apply equally to seizures of property and to seizures of persons, the Fourth Amendment has drawn a firm line at the entrance to the house. Absent exigent circumstances, that threshold may not reasonably be crossed without a warrant.

We must consider the pertinent facts in the case sub judice in order to apply this new ruling of the United States Supreme Court.

Appellant, during the spring of 1975, was under surveillance by undercover police on suspicion of dealing in drugs in Jacksonville, Florida. The following is a summary of the undisputed evidence presented at the hearing on the motion to suppress: Officer D.E. Taylor, working under cover, met Anthony J. Cataldo at approximately 10:30 p.m. on May 24, 1975. Cataldo advised that he had a large quantity of marijuana and Taylor said he was interested in purchasing 20 pounds. Cataldo would not take Taylor directly to the source but agreed to take him to a location near the source. *282 Cataldo then directed Taylor to a location near the intersection of Valdura and 103rd Street, where Taylor gave him $820 front money with which to buy 20 pounds of marijuana. Cataldo advised that he would return in a few minutes with the marijuana. Taylor had an idea where Cataldo would obtain the marijuana and had a surveillance team, Officers Howell and Higginbotham, set up at the premises located at 6209 Shindler Drive, which Taylor believed to be occupied by appellant. Taylor was in radio contact with the surveillance unit and he testified that he had reason to believe that appellant was involved in heavy drug traffic.

When Cataldo departed from the rendezvous to make the purchase, he advised that when he returned in a few minutes Taylor was to follow him down Valdura Street and that he (Cataldo) would pull off the road and turn the marijuana over to Taylor. The $820 front money that Taylor gave to Cataldo was marked in the sense that Taylor had the serial numbers for the bills. When Cataldo departed, Taylor so advised the surveillance unit and requested them to make contact if and when Cataldo arrived at 6209 Shindler Drive. Cataldo was driving a green Chevrolet Monza. In approximately a minute and a half to two minutes, the surveillance unit notified Taylor that Cataldo had pulled into the driveway of the premises at Shindler Drive. Officer Howell of the surveillance unit was situated across the street from the premises with a clear view. He observed the Monza enter the yard and drive up to the house. The driver exited the automobile and walked around to an area in the back of the house. A few minutes later, he reappeared with another individual and walked down beside the garage where Howell lost sight of them for three or four minutes. Then two individuals reappeared and walked up to the automobile. The taller of the two (not the person who drove up in the car) placed a bundle or package in the front from the driver's side of the Monza. When the Monza left the premises, Officer Howell immediately radioed Officer Taylor and advised that the Monza was headed back in his direction. This was approximately 10 minutes from the time Cataldo had left Taylor. Approximately one-half to two minutes later Cataldo arrived at the rendezvous point, and Taylor followed him down Valdura Street at which time Cataldo turned six pounds of marijuana over to him. At this point, Taylor placed Cataldo under arrest and advised him of his rights.

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Brown v. State, 392 So. 2d 280 (Fla. Ct. App. 1980).

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