Gnann v. State

• Decision Date: 03 November 1995
• Docket Number: No. 93-03457,93-03457
• Citation: 662 So.2d 406
• Parties: 20 Fla. L. Weekly D2463 Jill GNANN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 406

662 So.2d 406

20 Fla. L. Weekly D2463

Jill GNANN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 93-03457.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

Second District.

Nov. 3, 1995.

Elizabeth L. Hapner of Elizabeth L. Hapner, P.A., Tampa, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Tonja R. Vickers, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

BLUE, Judge.

Jill Gnann appeals the denial of her motion to suppress. She contends that she, the occupant of a motel room, was entitled to the same rights against a warrantless arrest and search as the occupant of a private dwelling. Because the state failed to prove that the warrantless entry to Gnann's motel room was lawful, we reverse.

The Fourth Amendment prohibits the police from making a warrantless and nonconsensual entry into a suspect's home for purposes of making a felony arrest unless exigent circumstances are present. Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). A motel room is considered a private dwelling if the occupant is there legally, has paid or arranged to pay, and has not been asked to leave. Wassmer v. State, 565 So.2d 856, 857 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). The constitutional rights and privileges that apply to occupants of private permanent dwellings also apply to motel guests. Wassmer; Turner v. State, 645 So.2d 444, 447 (Fla.1994).

Gnann was arrested, without a warrant, for drug offenses based on contraband found in her motel room during a warrantless search. She filed a motion to suppress evidence, asserting that the motel room was rented by her. The state presented no facts to the contrary. The following undisputed facts were presented by stipulation at the suppression hearing. On September 12, 1992, Tampa police officers stopped an individual, Lisa, for a traffic offense. Lisa told the officers that she had information regarding the presence of cocaine at a local motel. Lisa called the motel room and arranged to purchase cocaine there. It is undisputed that at this point the officers had probable cause to obtain a warrant to arrest Gnann or obtain a warrant to search her motel room. However, the officers made a decision to not obtain a warrant and instead proceeded to the motel.

At the motel, Lisa knocked on the room door and entered. The officers were in the corridor outside the room, and through a gap in the curtains, observed Gnann cutting cocaine. Rather than obtain an arrest or search warrant based on this additional information, the officers knocked, the door was opened, the officers entered the room and arrested Gnann. The record does not confirm who opened the door and allowed the officers to enter. The police immediately arrested Gnann and conducted a thorough search which revealed illegal drugs.

Searches conducted without a warrant are per se unreasonable unless conducted within the framework of a few specifically established and well delineated exceptions. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). The state has the burden of showing that a warrantless search comes within one of the recognized exceptions. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971); McCombs v. State, 433 So.2d 4 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). The five basic exceptions are: (1) consent, (2) incident to a lawful arrest, (3) with probable cause to search but with exigent circumstances, (4) in hot...