Gregory Presley v. State of Florida

227 So. 3d 95, 42 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 817, 2017 WL 4296316, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 1901
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedSeptember 20, 2017
DocketSC16-2089
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 227 So. 3d 95 (Gregory Presley v. State of Florida) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gregory Presley v. State of Florida, 227 So. 3d 95, 42 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 817, 2017 WL 4296316, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 1901 (Fla. 2017).

Opinions

LABARGA, C.J.

This case is before the Court for review of the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in Presley v. State, 204 So.3d 84 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016). The district court certified that its decision is in direct conflict with the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Wilson v. State (Wilson v. State), 734 So.2d 1107 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we approve the decision of the First District and hold that law enforcement officers may, as a matter of course, detain the passengers of a vehicle for the reasonable duration of a traffic stop without violating the Fourth Amendment.1

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

At the time of the events in this case, Gregory Presley was on drug offender probation. A special condition of the probation provided, “You will abstain entirely from the use of alcohol and/or illegal drugs, and you will not associate with anyone who is illegally using drugs or consuming alcohol.”

During the early morning hours of January 29, 2015, Gainesville police officer Tar-ik Jallad conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle for a faulty taillight and a stop sign violation. Presley was one of two passengers in the vehicle. Officers John Pandak and Joshua Meurer subsequently responded to the scene based upon a request for backup due to a struggle occurring with the other passenger, who had exited the vehicle and attempted to leave. At the time of their arrival, Officer Jallad and a second officer were dealing with that passenger, who was in handcuffs and behaving belligerently. Presley and the driver were standing outside of the vehicle. Officer Pandak approached Presley and asked for his name and identification, both of which Presley provided. Presley volunteered his date of birth. Officer Pandak asked general questions, and Presley stated that the group had been at his aunt’s house. During the interaction, Presley admitted he had been consuming alcohol.2 When Presley asked, “So what is the problem?” Officer Pandak responded, “I don’t know, man. This is a traffic stop, you’re part of it. So we’re hanging out. That’s all there is to it.” Officer Pandak later stated, “Well, we’re just talking, man. You can’t go anywhere at the moment because you’re part of this stop. That’s all.” After a background check revealed Presley was on drug offender probation with the special condition that he not consume alcohol, Presley was arrested for the violation of probation. During the search incident to arrest, Officer Pandak recovered a plastic bag containing powder cocaine from Presley’s pocket.

Presley filed a motion to suppress his statements and all evidence seized on the basis that he was illegally detained during the traffic stop. The circuit court denied the motion, concluding that although Presley was detained, the limited nature and duration of the detention did not significantly interfere with his Fourth Amendment liberty interests. The circuit court revoked Presley’s probation and sentenced him to multiple terms of incarceration for his earlier drug crimes.

The First District Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that “an officer may, as a matter of course, detain a passenger during a lawful traffic stop without violating the passenger’s Fourth Amendment rights.” Presley, 204 So.3d at 85-86. The district court fully concurred with the unanimous en bane decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Aguiar v. State, 199 So.3d 920 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016). Presley, 204 So.3d at 89.

The First District recognized that in Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 98 S.Ct. 330, 54 L.Ed.2d 331 (1977), and Maryland v. Wilson (Maryland v. Wilson), 519 U.S. 408, 117 S.Ct. 882, 137 L.Ed.2d 41 (1997), the United States Supreme Court held that both drivers and passengers can be asked to exit the vehicle during a traffic stop. Presley, 204 So.3d at 87. The First District then explained that the seminal case in Florida on passenger detentions during traffic stops is Wilson v. State, the case with which conflict was certified. Presley, 204 So.3d at 88-89. In Wilson v. State, the Fourth District Court of Appeal held:

[A] police officer conducting a lawful traffic stop may not, as a matter of course, order a passenger who has left the stopped vehicle to return to and remain in the vehicle until completion of the stop. The officer must have an artic-ulable founded suspicion of criminal activity or a reasonable belief that the passenger poses a threat to the safety of the officer, himself, or others before ordering the passenger to return to and remain in the vehicle.

734 So.2d at 1113. The Fourth District determined that:

[A] command preventing an innocent passenger from leaving the scene of a traffic stop to continue on his independent way is a greater intrusion upon personal liberty than an order simply directing a passenger out of the vehicle.' Such an arbitrary interference with the freedom of movement of one who is not suspected of any illegal activity whatsoever cannot be classified as a de minimis intrusion.

Id. at 1111-12.

■The First District noted that the-Aguiar court' concluded the analysis in Wilson v. State was flawed because it failed to give sufficient deference to officer safety. Presley, 204 So.3d at 88 (citing Aguiar, 199 So.3d at 923). The Fifth District in Aguiar* posited that, while allowing a passenger to remain in the vehicle during a stop posed a danger to officers in that the passenger might have access to weapons, allowing a passenger to leave the scene could also present a dangerous situation. 199 So.3d at 925. For example, the passenger might return to attack the officer while the officer is focused on the driver. Id. The Fifth District further noted, “[a] departing passenger is a distraction that divides the officer’s, focus and thereby increases the risk of harm to the officer.” Id. The First District acknowledged the Aguiar court’s disagreement with the. Fourth District’s conclusion that detaining the passenger for the duration of the stop was not a de minimis intrusion:

[E]ven if detaining a passenger who desires to leave is -more burdensome than directing a stopped passenger to step out of the vehicle, the infringement is minimal in light of the fact that: (1) the passenger’s planned mode of travel has. already been lawfully interrupted; (2) the passenger' has already beén “stopped” due to the driver’s lawful detention; and (3) routine traffic stops are brief in duration. ,,. Because 'the legitimate and weighty concern of officer safety can only be addressed “if the officers routinely exercise unquestioned command of the situation[,]” we believe that this interest outweighs the minimal intrusion on those few passengers who might prefer to leave the scene.

Presley, 204 So.3d at 88 (quoting Aguiar, 199 So.3d at 925-26 (quoting Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. at 414, 117 S.Ct. 882)).

Additionally, the Aguiar court determined that two Supreme Court cases— Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249, 127 S.Ct. 2400, 168 L.Ed.2d 132 (2007), and Arizona v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
227 So. 3d 95, 42 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 817, 2017 WL 4296316, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 1901, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gregory-presley-v-state-of-florida-fla-2017.