390 So.2d 344 (Fla. 1980), 54097, Shapiro v. State
| Citation | 390 So.2d 344 |
| Party Name | Donald Alan SHAPIRO, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Case Date | November 13, 1980 |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
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Bernard S. Yedlin, Miami, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Steven R. Jacob, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, for appellee.
ALDERMAN, Justice.
We have for review by direct appeal Donald Shapiro's conviction for possession of cocaine. Because the trial court upheld the constitutional validity of sections 893.13 and 893.03(2)(a)(4), Florida Statutes (1977), part of the "Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act," we have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution (1972).
In the trial court, by motion to dismiss, Shapiro challenged the constitutionality of these statutory sections, and, by motion to suppress, he challenged the admissibility of 6.5 pounds of cocaine seized by an airport security detective from his suitcase at the security boarding area of the airport. Both motions were denied, and he then pled nolo contendere expressly reserving the right to appeal the constitutional and the suppression questions. We hold that the challenged statutes are constitutional and that the trial court's denial of the motion to suppress was proper, and we therefore affirm Shapiro's conviction and sentence.
Shapiro's constitutional attack on sections 893.13 and 893.03(2)(a)(4) is totally without merit and warrants only brief discussion. The inclusion of cocaine within the statutorily prohibited class defined in section 893.13 is not arbitrary and unreasonable, does not violate Shapiro's right to equal protection of the laws, does not render the statute overbroad, does not invade Shapiro's right of privacy, and does not violate his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Cf. Hamilton v. State, 366 So.2d 8 (Fla.1978), wherein we upheld the inclusion of marijuana within section 893.13 against similar constitutional challenges.
Shapiro's challenge to the trial court's order denying his motion to suppress is also without merit but warrants more extended discussion. First, we note that the trial court's conclusions of fact come to us clothed with a presumption of correctness, and, in testing the accuracy of these conclusions, we must interpret the evidence and all reasonable deductions and inferences which may be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the trial judge's conclusions. State v. Nova, 361 So.2d 411 (Fla.1978). In that light, the record of the motion to suppress hearing reveals the following pertinent facts. Having arrived at the Miami International Airport and having had purchased for him an airline ticket, Shapiro and two other men proceeded to the coin lockers at the airport terminal. Therein, they placed a bag. Shapiro then, in a rather suspicious manner which attracted the attention of a detective of the Dade County Public Safety Department assigned to the airport, handed the key to one of the two other men. Because of several other unusual actions by Shapiro observed by the detective for a period of at least fifteen minutes, the detective approached Shapiro and asked him for identification. Appearing extremely nervous, Shapiro produced a driver's license in his own name and produced an airline ticket in another name. When questioned as to the discrepancy, he informed the detective that the airline had made a mistake. Fearing that Shapiro had placed an explosive device in the locker, the detective asked Shapiro whether he could search the locker. Shapiro told him that if
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the detective could locate the key to the locker, he could search it. The key, however, was not located. The detective also requested that Shapiro permit him to search the suitcase which Shapiro intended to carry onto the plane, but Shapiro refused. Although he was still suspicious, the detective told Shapiro that he was free to leave.
The detective then followed Shapiro down the concourse to the security boarding area of the airport. When Shapiro's suitcase was passed through the x-ray monitor, the guard at the security check station noticed something that looked like scissors. The detective, who was also watching the monitor, observed a gray mass which was approximately a foot to a foot and a half in length and eight inches in width. He requested that the bag be passed through again and that the guards take a closer look because he had a genuine fear that there was an explosive device in the suitcase. Viewing the monitor, the detective could distinguish that the mass was not clothing and that it could be plastic explosives. When the suitcase was opened by Shapiro so that the security guard could check the scissors, the detective saw a bulge in a pants leg which he thought was a bomb. He, therefore removed the pants from the suitcase. The search, however, rather than revealing the presence of a bomb, turned up the 6.5 pounds of cocaine.
The trial court, having considered the totality of the circumstances surrounding the search and seizure of the cocaine, concluded that the detective had acted reasonably.
Shapiro contends that the search and seizure violated his fourth amendment rights and that the cocaine should have been suppressed because the detective did not have sufficient probable cause to search his luggage. For several reasons, we hold that probable cause was not a prerequisite to this search in the security area of the airport, conducted for the limited purpose of discovering weapons, explosives, or other devices which could have been utilized to hijack an airplane.
In order for Shapiro to claim that his fourth amendment rights were violated, he must first establish that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy to be free from this particular intrusion by the detective. United States v. Salvucci, 448 U.S. 83, 100 S.Ct. 2547, 65 L.Ed.2d 619 (1980); Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978). A reasonable expectation of privacy under a given set of circumstances depends not only upon one's actual subjective expectation of privacy but also upon whether society is prepared to recognize this expectation as reasonable. Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 99 S.Ct. 2577, 61 L.Ed.2d 220 (1979); Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). Here, the defendant clearly failed to demonstrate that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy to be free from the particular intrusion involved in this case-a search for what the detective thought was a bomb. Shapiro testified that since 1971, he had boarded airplanes at least twenty times and that he was aware that there is a checkpoint at every airport where carry-on baggage must be submitted for inspection. He further testified that he had seen baggage opened at the security stations and that he was fully aware that his could be opened. He knew that for his protection and for the protection of other air passengers, searches were conducted to prevent prospective hijackers from boarding airplanes. By his own testimony, he established that he had no subjective reasonable expectation that his baggage would not be searched.
Additionally, we conclude that even if Shapiro had some subjective expectation of privacy, society is not prepared to recognize such expectation as reasonable. At this point in time when airplane hijacking is at a crisis level, such an expectation, to be free from the limited intrusion brought about by the screening process utilized in the boarding area of the airports, is not justifiable under the circumstances. One who enters the boarding area of the airport knows or should know that he is subject to being searched for weapons or other devices which could be used for hijacking. Notices
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posted in front of boarding areas inform prospective air passengers that all are subject to anti-hijacking searches. These searches are not directed against individuals but rather are a part of a general screening process to avoid the carrying of weapons or explosive devices onto an aircraft.
Since Shapiro did not demonstrate that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy, the fourth amendment is not implicated, and probable cause was not requisite to justify the search.
Alternatively, assuming that Shapiro's fourth amendment rights were implicated in this search, we find that the present search conducted for the limited purpose of preventing an airplane hijacking was proper under the fourth amendment. Two separate concepts justify this finding.
One of the exceptions to the fourth amendment requirement of a probable cause basis for a search is a search conducted pursuant to consent. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). This consent must be free and unconstrained, and the question of voluntariness is a question of fact to be determined from the totality of the circumstances. See Norman v. State, 379 So.2d 643 (Fla.1980). Analyzing in depth the subject of consent searches, the Supreme Court of the United States in Schneckloth determined that while knowledge of the right to refuse consent is a factor to be taken into account, the government need not establish such knowledge as an indispensable requisite to effective consent. The Court refused to extend the requirement of a knowing and intelligent waiver to the constitutional guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures since, it explained, the protections of the fourth amendment have nothing to do with promoting the ascertainment of truth at a criminal trial. 412 U.S. at 241-42, 93 S.Ct. at 2055. See also Interest of R. L. J., 336 So.2d 132 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976).
Looking to the totality of the circumstances in the present case, we find that Shapiro voluntarily consented to the search. As previously stated, he was fully aware that upon entering the security boarding area of the airport, he was subject to...
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