State of Florida v. Andrew Benjamin

187 So. 3d 352, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 4112, 2016 WL 1039146
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 16, 2016
Docket4D14-2110
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 187 So. 3d 352 (State of Florida v. Andrew Benjamin) 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
State of Florida v. Andrew Benjamin, 187 So. 3d 352, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 4112, 2016 WL 1039146 (Fla. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

CONNER, J.

Andrew Benjamin filed a rule 3.190(c)(4) motion to dismiss his charge of carrying a concealed firearm, which the trial court granted. The State appeals, arguing that because different inferences can be drawn from the undisputed evidence, the concealment issue cannot be determined as a matter of law. We agree.

Factual Background and Trial Court Proceedings

Benjamin was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by two officers for speeding and seat belt violations. First Officer approached the driver’s side of the vehicle; Second Officer approached the passenger’s side. As he approached the vehicle, First Officer saw an empty holster in the driver’s lap. When questioned, the driver admitted there was a gun in the trunk. Both occupants were asked to step to the front of the vehicle, and the driver gave the officers permission to search. Second Officer stayed with Benjamin and the driver at the front of the vehicle while First Officer searched the trunk and the driver’s side of the vehicle, finding no gun. First Officer then approached the front passenger’s side where Benjamin had been sit *354 ting. The passenger door was open, and he could see, in open view, the half-inch tip of the barrel of a handgun underneath the passenger seat. First Officer retrieved the handgun, and Benjamin was arrested and 'charged with carrying a concealed firearm. At the time of his arrest, Benjamin did not have a concealed firearm permit.

Benjamin filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190(c)(4). At the evidentiary hearing on Benjamin’s motion, the State presented evidence in support of its motion to strike and traverse Benjámin’s motion to dismiss. Of note, Second Officer testified that at no point did he see a gun visible in the vehicle.

The trial court granted Benjamin’s rule 3.190(c)(4) motion, whereupon the State gave notice of appeal.

Appellate Analysis

“Because a motion to dismiss pursuant to rule 3.190(c)(4) requires the lower court to make a pretrial determination of the law of the case when the facts are not in dispute, the standard of review on appeal is de novo.” State v. Hinkle, 970 So.2d 433, 434 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (citing State v. Pasko, 815 So.2d 680, 681 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)).

On appeal, the State argues that the trial court erred in granting dismissal because “the state established a prima facie case and was entitled to the most favorable construction of evidence with all inferences resolved against [Benjamin].”

Under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190(c)(4), a defendant may file a pre-trial motion to dismiss arguing that “[t]here are no material disputed facts and the undisputed facts do not establish, a prima facie case of guilt against the defendant.” The facts on which the motion is based must be sworn to and should be alleged specifically. Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.190(c). Here, the State conceded that the facts sworn to by Benjamin were undisputed, but filed a traverse nonetheless, alleging there were additional material facts not sworn to by Benjamin. The State presented the additional facts at the hearing on the motion to dismiss.

At the motion to dismiss stage, “[t]he state need only establish a prima facie case and ‘is entitled to the most favorable construction of evidence, and all inferences should be resolved against the defendant.’ ”. Hinkle, 970 So.2d at 434 (quoting Pasko, 815 So.2d at 681). To establish a .prima facie. case, “the State must show only that a reasonable jury could find the defendant guilty of the charged crime under the most favorable construction of the evidence.” State v. Yarn, 63 So.3d 82, 85 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011).

Section 790.01(2), Florida Statutes (2012), provides; “[A] person who carries a concealed firearm on or about his or . her person commits a felony of the third degree.” A “concealed firearm” is defined as “any firearm ... which is carried on or about a person in such a manner as to conceal the firearm from the ordinary sight of another person.” § 790.001(2), Fla. Stat. (2012).

In Ensor v. State, 403 So.2d 349 (Fla.1981), our supreme Court interpreted the definition of a “concealed firearm” in a case akin to the present case. There, police officers stopped a vehicle in which defendant was the passenger for a traffic violation. The vehicle’s two occupants were asked to -step to the rear of the vehicle. Id. at 351. While two officers questioned the two occupants, two other- officers looked inside the vehicle with their flashlights. Id, Peering through the .front windshield, one officer saw a portion of a white object protruding from under the *355 passenger floormat, and from looking inside the opened passenger door,, the officer determined the object was a gun. Id.

After analyzing the open view doctrine, the supreme court explained the test for determining whether an item is “concealed”:

The operative language of that section establishes a-two-fold test. For a firearm to be concealed, it must be (1) on or about the person and (2) hidden from the ordinary sight of another -person. The term “on or about the person” means physically on the person or readily accessible to him. This generally includes the interior of an automobile and the vehicle’s glove compartment, whether or not locked. The term “ordinary sight of. another person” means., the casual and ordinary observation of another in the normal associations of life. Ordinary observation by a person other than a police officer does not generally include the floorboard of a vehicle, whether or not the weapon is wholly or partially visible.

Id. at 354 (emphasis added). The court found that absolute invisibility is not a necessary element to a finding of concealment under the statute. Id. The court also explained that there are no “absolute standards” and that “a weapon’s possible visibility from a point outside the vehicle may not, as a matter of law, preclude the weapon from being a concealed weapon under section 790.001.” Id. (emphasis added).

Eighteen years after Ensor, our supreme court again interpreted the concealed firearm statute in the context of a vehicle. In Dorelus v. State, 747 So.2d 368 (Fla.1999), the court held the undisputed facts (1) that a gun was located in a vehicle in an open console underneath -the radio and (2) that the, officer making a traffic stop observed the shiny silver butt of the gun sticking out of the console, were sufficient for the- trial court to conclude that the gun was not concealed. .Id. at 373.

The court relied on, and clarified, En-sor ’s interpretation and analysis of the “concealed firearm” statute. Id. at 370-71. The court clarified that the issue of concealment is ordinarily, but not always, one for the trier of fact and that the focus should be on the manner in which the firearm is carried. Id. at 371. The court stated that its decision in State v. Teague,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
187 So. 3d 352, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 4112, 2016 WL 1039146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-florida-v-andrew-benjamin-fladistctapp-2016.