Gilbert v. State, T--270
| Decision Date | 12 February 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. T--270,T--270 |
| Citation | 289 So.2d 475 |
| Parties | Nancy J. GILBERT, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Richard W. Ervin, III, Public Defender and Michael J. Minerva, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and Donald K. Rudser, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Appellant seeks reversal of her conviction for possession of hashish for which she was placed on probation for a period of three years.
The only issue now before this Court is whether the search of appellant's jacket, from which the hashish was discovered, was unreasonable so as to render the trial court's denial of appellant's motion to suppress reversible error.
The facts of this case are not in dispute. Somewhere between 5:00 and 5:30 in the morning, three police officers came upon the appellant staggering in the middle of a major thoroughfare in Tallahassee. Appellant related to them that she had been assaulted by a black male. She appeared to be intoxicated, disoriented and in a disheveled condition. Her clothing was ripped and torn. At this point, the officers took her to the police station for the purpose of continuing the investigation into the alleged assault. At the oplice station, appellant continued to cry and her agitated and nervous behavior seemed to worsen. She made several statements to the effect that she wished she were dead and wanted to kill herself. Several times during the course of the investigation into the alleged assault, appellant was left by herself. She had also gone to the restroom by herself.
During the investigation, one of the officers took appellant's jacket and searched it over her objection. Contraband was discovered and appellant was then placed under arrest. Said officer testified that appellant was incoherent and highly upset at the police station and that, coupled with her 'death-wish' statements, there was some suspicion that she may have had weapons in the jacket. He further testified that appellant acted as though she were capable of harming herself. Another officer present at the time testified that appellant was not in control of herself. When asked whether appellant appeared , the officer responded, Other officers present testified as to appellant's state of nervousness, despondency and incoherence at the police station.
Upon these facts, appellant contends that the search of her jacket was unreasonable and illegal inasmuch as it was not based upon a warrant or probable cause nor was it a search incident to an arrest. Admittedly, there was no search warrant in this instance nor was there an arrest prior to the search. However, we cannot agree with the appellant that there was no probable cause for the search.
In determining matters concerning the constitutional prohibitions against illegal searches and seizures, we must bear in mind the basic and controlling principle that it is only 'unreasonable' searches...
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