Cameron v. State

112 So. 2d 864
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 9, 1959
DocketA-230
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 112 So. 2d 864 (Cameron 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
Cameron v. State, 112 So. 2d 864 (Fla. Ct. App. 1959).

Opinion

112 So.2d 864 (1959)

Archie Bruce CAMERON and Wesley Pless, Appellants,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. A-230.

District Court of Appeal of Florida. First District.

May 12, 1959.
Rehearing Denied May 28, 1959.
On Motion to Strike Petition for Writ of Certiorari June 9, 1959.

*866 Arthur T. Boone, Jacksonville, for appellants.

Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and David U. Tumin and Eugene P. Spellman, Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.

STURGIS, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction and sentence rendered by the Duval County Criminal Court of Record.

The defendants were jointly charged in and convicted under a two count information; first, with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, and secondly, with grand larceny. Each defendant was sentenced to serve a term of seven years at Raiford as a result of their conviction under count one. Passing of sentence under count two was deferred from day to day and term to term until finally disposed of, jurisdiction being expressly reserved for that purpose.

The principal question urged on this appeal concerns the trial court's denial of defendants' motion to suppress certain evidence which was subsequently introduced at the trial and identified as property stolen from a store in Duval County. The subject evidence was located and seized by law enforcement officials under circumstances hereinafter related.

The defendants were seen by an officer of the State Highway Patrol as they drove through St. Augustine around noon on the morning of August 22, 1957, in a 1957 Ford automobile bearing a Wisconsin license tag. Their unshaven and unkempt appearance aroused the officer's suspicion. Being off duty at the time and driving with his family in their private car, the officer took no steps to apprehend the defendants. Later, however at around 4:00 p.m. on the same day, the defendants were again seen by the same patrolman, then on duty, as they drove along highway AIA some six miles south of St. Augustine, whereupon the officer determined to "check them out." It is undisputed that the defendants were violating no traffic regulation or otherwise conducting themselves in any unlawful manner. The patrol officer admitted that his sole cause for stopping them was the fact that his suspicion had been aroused by their physical appearance; not because they were violating the law or because of any information indicating that either had committed or was committing any crime.

After stopping the car at that time being driven by Cameron, the officer checked the driver's license issued by the State of Wisconsin and found it to be in order. Upon *867 being informed by Cameron that he owned the car, the officer requested that he be permitted to examine the registration card of the automobile, to which Cameron asserted that he had none for the reason that the State of Wisconsin issued no such paper to automobile owners. In the course of these happenings the officer, by his unobstructed view of the inside of the automobile from his position on the outside, observed that the radio and heater had been removed and saw certain articles, of which more later. Upon inquiring as to the whereabouts of the heater and radio, Cameron stated that he had "gone broke" and pawned them.

These circumstances sharpened the officer's suspicions to the extent that he twice radioed his headquarters to inquire whether there was any information there concerning the automobile or its occupants. He received a negative response, but nevertheless placed both occupants under arrest. While awaiting the arrival of assistance the patrol officer opened and searched the glove compartment in an effort to locate some evidence of ownership.

During the night, after the defendants had been arrested and incarcerated and the car impounded, the patrol officer became advised that a Wisconsin warrant was outstanding against Cameron for theft of the automobile. On the following day formal steps were taken to hold him thereunder. Later in the day the officer conducted a search of the automobile, at which time he removed the property which was identified as having been taken incident to a robbery in this state. Cameron and Pless were delivered to Duval County authorities to face the charges out of which this appeal arose.

Testimony establishing the foregoing facts, together with those hereinafter recited, was received by the trial court in the absence of the jury and resulted in a denial of defendants' motion to suppress. Defendants' objection to introduction of the seized property was likewise overruled and the State was permitted to place it before the jury. These rulings constitute the primary grounds of appeal.

We recognize that law enforcement officers are not authorized to arrest without warrant one who is lawfully traveling a public way and take him into custody on nothing more than a bare suspicion that he has, or might have violated the law. Kersey v. State, Fla. 1952, 58 So.2d 155. We also recognize that if the existing facts do not justify the arrest, it matters not that a search and seizure made as an incident to that arrest produces ample evidence to support what at the time of the arrest was nothing more than a mere suspicion; that an illegal arrest and search cannot be made legal by the fruit it produces. Collins v. State, Fla. 1952, 65 So.2d 61; Brown v. State, Fla. 1952, 62 So.2d 348. See also Garske v. United States, 8 Cir., 1 F.2d 620; Cornelius on Search and Seizure, 2nd Ed., § 31, p. 86. We are also cognizant of and agree with the proposition stated in a recent decision by Mr. Justice Thornal: "If government under law even approximates the great principles that it is supposed to comprehend, we are necessarily impelled to the conclusion that the rascal and the chiseler, the thief and the `con-man' are as much entitled to a fair trial as are those ultimately found to be innocent." Shargaa v. State, Fla. 1958, 102 So.2d 814, 817.

The State contends that the defendant Pless is not in a position to object to the evidence obtained by the search for the reason that he was merely a passenger or hitchhiker in an automobile which he did not own, possess or control. This contention is based upon the principle announced by our Supreme Court in Chacon v. State, Fla. 1957, 102 So.2d 578, in which it was held that two of the defendants there were in no position to question the validity of a search warrant since they neither owned nor had the lawful right to possession of the premises described therein.

While the exact question does not appear to have been heretofore considered *868 or passed upon by our Supreme Court, it is clear from a review of other authorities that the constitutional guarantee to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures accrues only to the persons in whom is vested the lawful right of possession of the premises searched, and does not extend to others who might incidentally be on the premises at the time the search is made. Agnello v. United States, 269 U.S. 20, 46 S.Ct. 4, 70 L.Ed. 145, 51 A.L.R. 409; United States v. Pepe, 2 Cir., 247 F.2d 838; Lovette v. United States, 5 Cir., 230 F.2d 263; Connolly v. Medalie, 2 Cir., 58 F.2d 629

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112 So. 2d 864, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cameron-v-state-fladistctapp-1959.