State v. Chen

1 So. 3d 1257, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 1054, 2009 WL 323344
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 11, 2009
Docket2D06-4735
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1 So. 3d 1257 (State v. Chen) 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 v. Chen, 1 So. 3d 1257, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 1054, 2009 WL 323344 (Fla. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

SILBERMAN, Judge.

The State charged Bob Fijnje 1 and Lisa Chen with trafficking in cannabis and possession of cannabis. In this appeal, the State challenges the trial court’s order granting a motion to suppress in favor of Fijnje and Chen, 2 arguing that the trial court incorrectly determined that the anticipatory warrant used to search Fijnje’s apartment was invalid. Citing United States v. Grubbs, 547 U.S. 90, 126 S.Ct. 1494, 164 L.Ed.2d 195 (2006), the trial court found that the warrant was invalid because neither the warrant nor the affidavit filed in support of its issuance identified the triggering condition for its execution. The trial court suppressed all statements and tangible evidence obtained during the search of Fijnje’s apartment. We reverse based upon our conclusion that the trial court misconstrued Grubbs in determining that the warrant was invalid. Further, even if the warrant were defective, the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applied to allow the State to use at trial the evidence seized during the search. Accordingly, we reverse the suppression order and remand for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

On November 10, 2004, Detective Carla Colebank of the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office applied for a warrant to search Fijnje’s apartment. In support, she filed her affidavit stating that she had “reason to believe” that marijuana “is now *1260 being kept” at Fijnje’s apartment. She described a series of contacts involving a confidential informant (Cl) and Fijnje that occurred between November 4 and 10, 2004. During each contact, Detective Co-lebank kept the Cl under visual surveillance and monitored his conversations with Fijnje through an electronic listening device.

Detective Colebank stated that on November 4, 2004, she met with the Cl, searched him and his vehicle, equipped him with an electronically monitored listening device, and observed him enter Fijnje’s apartment. There, the Cl negotiated the purchase of thirty pounds of marijuana from Fijnje for approximately $3600 per pound. Fijnje stated that his supplier, “known only to affiant as Lisa from the Orlando area with two cell phones,” 3 was getting a shipment that day. However, he was uncertain when the transaction could take place. Fijnje was unsuccessful in trying to contact Lisa at that time, and the Cl left Fijnje’s apartment.

On November 9, 2004, the Cl returned to Fijnje’s apartment, again while wearing an electronic monitoring device. Fijnje advised the Cl that Lisa would be ready the next day, November 10, and that Fijnje told her he wanted the marijuana on November 10. Fijnje also told the Cl that he would be working on November 10 and that delivery of the marijuana would possibly take place on November 11. He and the Cl agreed to make contact by phone to finalize plans for the transaction.

Detective Colebank and the Cl made a controlled phone call to Fijnje on November 10. Fijnje stated that he had been able to get a lower price for the marijuana, $3400 per pound, and that Lisa would call him when she left to drive to his residence. The Cl told Fijnje to add a few more pounds of marijuana due to the lower price and because Lisa had not yet left her location. Fijnje advised that the marijuana would arrive that evening between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Detective Colebank and the Cl conducted a second controlled phone call on November 10 in which Fijnje stated that Lisa would be arriving at his apartment in approximately ten minutes. 4 Fijnje said that Lisa would bring the marijuana inside for inspection. She would then leave and return approximately thirty minutes later to collect the money.

Judge Robert A. Foster issued the search warrant on November 10, 2004, concluding that the facts alleged in the affidavit (which were incorporated into the warrant) established probable cause for issuance of the warrant. Detective Cole-bank executed the warrant by searching the apartment on November 11, 2004, at approximately 12:30 a.m., and Fijnje and Chen were arrested at 12:55 a.m. 5 The State charged them pursuant to section 893.135(1)(a)(l), Florida Statutes (2004), with trafficking in cannabis (more than twenty-five pounds but less than 2000 pounds). The State also charged Chen pursuant to section 893.13(6)(b) with possession of cannabis.

THE MOTION TO SUPPRESS AND THE TRIAL COURT’S RULING

Fijnje filed his motion to suppress, arguing that the warrant was an improper anti *1261 cipatory warrant which was not based on probable cause. In his motion and at the suppression hearing, he asserted that the affidavit incorrectly stated that marijuana was “now being kept” at the apartment. Instead, the facts alleged in the affidavit demonstrated that the marijuana was not present when law enforcement applied for the warrant. He contended that pursuant to section 933.18(5), Florida Statutes (2004), the search of a residence may not occur unless probable cause supports that there exists a current violation of narcotics laws on the premises. Fijnje further argued that the warrant was invalid because it failed to state a triggering condition that would allow law enforcement to serve the warrant. In support of this argument, he relied upon the United States Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Grubbs, 547 U.S. 90, 126 S.Ct. 1494, 164 L.Ed.2d 195 (2006).

In its order, the trial court found that law enforcement conducted the search after the Cl entered the apartment, observed the marijuana, and notified law enforcement. However, the court granted the motion to suppress based upon its finding that neither the warrant nor the supporting affidavit identified the triggering condition for the warrant’s execution. The court stated that while law enforcement acted reasonably in waiting until the Cl observed the marijuana in the apartment, “[a] reasonable reading of the affidavit gave law enforcement the right to execute the warrant based on the expectation that the drugs were on their way.”

The trial court quoted the following language from Grubbs:

[F]or a conditioned anticipatory warrant to comply with the Fourth Amendment’s requirement of probable cause, two prerequisites of probability must be satisfied. It must be true not only that if the triggering condition occurs “there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place,” but also that there is probable cause to believe the triggering condition will occur. The supporting affidavit must provide the magistrate with sufficient information to evaluate both aspects of the probable-cause determination.

547 U.S. at 96-97, 126 S.Ct. 1494 (citations omitted). The trial court observed that in Grubbs,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1 So. 3d 1257, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 1054, 2009 WL 323344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-chen-fladistctapp-2009.