Soca v. State

656 So. 2d 536, 1995 WL 335713
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 7, 1995
Docket94-1214
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 656 So. 2d 536 (Soca 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
Soca v. State, 656 So. 2d 536, 1995 WL 335713 (Fla. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

656 So.2d 536 (1995)

Juan SOCA, Appellant,
v.
The STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 94-1214.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

June 7, 1995.

*537 Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Bruce A. Rosenthal, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Michael J. Neimand, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before LEVY, GERSTEN and GREEN, JJ.

LEVY, Judge.

The defendant appeals his conviction for cocaine possession, challenging the denial of his motion to suppress evidence found during a warrantless search of his residence by his probation officer. Because we find the search constitutional, we affirm.

I.

The defendant, Juan Soca, was on probation from two previous criminal convictions, and was living in a trailer in Monroe County with his parents. An investigator from the Monroe State Attorney's office obtained information from a confidential informant that the defendant was dealing cocaine. The investigator set up a controlled purchase, at which the informant purchased cocaine from another individual while in the presence of the defendant. The investigator was nearby at the time, and was able to independently confirm that a purchase had been made. The informant later reported that the defendant was in possession of a large quantity of cocaine which had just come in from Miami. The investigator contacted the defendant's probation officer, and relayed what his investigation had revealed. The probation officer indicated that the defendant had recently undergone urinalysis, and had tested positive for cocaine. Based upon this information, the probation officer consulted with his supervisor, who instructed the officer to search the defendant's residence for contraband which might indicate that the defendant had violated the terms of his probation.

The probation officer and the investigator went to the defendant's trailer. The defendant was not home, but his father beeped him and he appeared within 20 minutes. The probation officer informed the defendant that he was going to search the trailer in order to monitor compliance with the terms of the defendant's probation, and the defendant told him to go ahead and search. The probation officer conducted the search himself; the investigator did not participate. The search revealed cocaine hidden under the floor of a hallway closet in the trailer. No search warrant was ever sought or obtained.

The defendant was charged with possession of over 400 grams of cocaine, in violation of Florida Statutes Section 893.135. He moved to suppress the cocaine, arguing that the search of his trailer was warrantless and unconstitutional. In his motion, the defendant admitted that the evidence found during the search could be used against him in a probation revocation proceeding, but argued that it could not be used to support the independent criminal charge of cocaine possession.

The defendant's motion was denied. The trial court found that the probation officer had a reasonable suspicion that contraband would be found in the trailer. Therefore, the trial court concluded that the search was legal, considering the defendant's probationary status, as well as the other circumstances of the case. The defendant was later convicted by a jury, and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He subsequently pled guilty to two counts of violating probation, and was sentenced to one year on each violation, with all sentences to run concurrently. The defendant now appeals, challenging only the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress.

II.

The legality of this search is governed by Article I, Section 12 of the Florida Constitution, which deals with searches and seizures. As amended by the electorate in 1982, Article I, Section 12 requires us to *538 follow the United States Constitution's Fourth Amendment, as interpreted, in all past and future decisions, by the United States Supreme Court. See Perez v. State, 620 So.2d 1256, 1258 (Fla. 1993); Bernie v. State, 524 So.2d 988, 990-91 (Fla. 1988). Article I, Section 12 is to be interpreted in conformity with the Fourth Amendment, and may not be read to provide any greater protections. See Art. I, § 12, Fla. Const.; Jones v. State, 648 So.2d 669, 674 (Fla. 1994); Perez, 620 So.2d at 1258; Bernie, 524 So.2d at 990-91. "Indeed, an exclusionary rule that was once constitutionally mandated in Florida can now be eliminated by judicial decision of the United States Supreme Court." Bernie, 524 So.2d at 991. However, where the United States Supreme Court has not ruled on a particular search and seizure issue, it is appropriate to rely upon previous Florida cases, see State v. Cross, 487 So.2d 1056, 1057 (Fla.), cert. dismissed, 479 U.S. 805, 107 S.Ct. 248, 93 L.Ed.2d 172 (1986), and cases from other jurisdictions, see Jones, 648 So.2d at 674. With this structure in mind, it is necessary to briefly review, in chronological order, the caselaw upon which the State and the defendant rely.

III.

In Grubbs v. State, 373 So.2d 905 (Fla. 1979), the Florida Supreme Court found unconstitutional, under the old version of Article I, Section 12, a condition of probation which required the probationer to consent to a warrantless search of his home at any time by any law enforcement officer. Grubbs, 373 So.2d at 910. In discussing the issue, the Grubbs court distinguished situations where evidence was sought to be used in a probation revocation proceeding from situations where evidence was sought to be used to support a new, independent criminal charge. With respect to probation revocation proceedings, Grubbs held that "[t]he search of a probationer's person or residence by a probation supervisor without a warrant is, in our view, a reasonable search and absolutely necessary for the proper supervision of probationers." Grubbs, 373 So.2d at 909. However, with respect to new criminal charges, Grubbs held that ordinary search and seizure law applied, although a probationer's status could be taken into account in making a probable cause determination. Grubbs, 373 So.2d at 910. Thus, the result of Grubbs was to allow certain evidence, which would be excluded from a substantive case because it was illegally seized, to be nonetheless admitted in a probation revocation proceeding.

In State v. Dodd, 419 So.2d 333 (Fla. 1982), the Florida Supreme Court further clarified that under the old version of Article I, Section 12, the exclusionary rule applied equally to probation revocation proceedings as it did to regular prosecutions: "A person's status as a probationer may be taken into consideration in determining whether a search or seizure is unreasonable for constitutional purposes, but in Grubbs this Court unequivocally repudiated the notion that the article I, section 12 exclusionary rule may simply be ignored at a probation revocation hearing." Dodd, 419 So.2d at 335 (footnote omitted). Dodd therefore left intact the holding of Grubbs that "a warrantless search of a probationer's person or residence by a probation supervisor is valid to the extent that the evidence discovered is used only in probation violation proceedings." Grubbs, 373 So.2d at 907.

Shortly after the decision in Dodd, the previously-mentioned amendment to Article I, Section 12 was adopted. The amendment became effective January 4, 1983.

Three years later, the Florida Supreme Court held that Dodd

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656 So. 2d 536, 1995 WL 335713, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/soca-v-state-fladistctapp-1995.