City of Jacksonville v. Alexander, BG-281
| Decision Date | 22 April 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. BG-281,BG-281 |
| Citation | 487 So.2d 1144,11 Fla. L. Weekly 933 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 933 CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, Appellant, v. Melonise ALEXANDER, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Grady W. Martin, Asst. Counsel, Jacksonville, for appellant.
Warren K. Anderson, Jr., Jacksonville, for appellee.
The City of Jacksonville (City) appeals from entry of a jury verdict in favor of appellee Alexander in her suit against it for false arrest. The City also challenges the trial court's denial of its motion for remittitur. We affirm.
On 5 December 1982, Officer Lonnie Miller was dispatched to May Cohens Department Store (Cohens) in Jacksonville to investigate a possible shoplifting. The dispatcher, without relating the name or phone number of the complainant, described the suspect only as a black female with red shoes and bag. The officer was informed that he would be met outside the store by a Cohens security guard.
Upon his arrival at the store, no guard was outside. According to Miller, he then asked the dispatcher to contact Cohens and obtain a fuller description of the guard. The dispatcher allegedly did so and, after driving "a few minutes" away from the storefront, a black male fitting the description flagged Miller down and indicated Alexander, who was carrying a red bag, as the suspect. Miller requested identification from the man, who produced only a Florida driver's license bearing the name "Sidney Jones." He wore no uniform and carried no Cohens identification or security paraphernalia, such as a walkie-talkie, badge or handcuffs. Miller made no further attempt to verify Jones' identity as a Cohens employee.
Miller called Alexander over to the cruiser. After questioning, during which she denied committing any crime or having been in the store that day, Miller undertook a consensual search of the red bag, which contained no Cohens merchandise. Miller did not look about for "ditched" merchandise or go into the store to ascertain what was missing. Despite the lack of any hard evidence to corroborate the alleged guard's accusation, Miller issued Alexander a citation charging her with petit theft of "an unknown amount of clothes." She was then allowed to leave.
On the strength of this citation alone, without further inquiry of the store or the arresting officer, the state attorney filed an information against Alexander charging her with petit theft. She was appointed a public defender and a trial date was set. During discovery, however, when her attorney attempted to set the alleged guard Jones for deposition, it was discovered that no one by that name had ever worked for Cohens, nor had a black security guard been employed by the store at the time of the complaint. The charge was thereupon nolle prossed by the state attorney.
At the close of the plaintiff's case in the jury trial of Alexander's complaint for false arrest, in which the foregoing information was adduced, the City moved for directed verdict alleging Alexander's failure to establish that the officer had not had probable cause to arrest her. The motion was denied, the court ruling that probable cause was a defense to Alexander's action which the City had to prove. The defense then put Miller on the stand, who testified only that he "felt he'd had probable cause," despite conceding that Jones had carried no identification or security paraphernalia and that no merchandise was in Alexander's possession.
The jury returned a verdict in Alexander's...
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