Hopkins v. State

• Decision Date: 12 May 1988
• Docket Number: No. 87-84,87-84
• Citation: 524 So.2d 1136,13 Fla. L. Weekly 1139
• Parties: 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1139 Lee Roy HOPKINS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 1136

524 So.2d 1136

13 Fla. L. Weekly 1139

Lee Roy HOPKINS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 87-84.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

May 12, 1988.

Michael E. Allen, Public Defender, Marie Ines Suber, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., William A. Hatch, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

SMITH, Chief Judge.

Appellant, Lee Roy Hopkins, seeks review of the trial court's order denying his motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to a warrantless search of his person, alleging that the search was conducted without probable cause. ¹ We disagree and affirm.

On September 16, 1986, at 10:30 p.m., Officer Etheridge met with a confidential informant who told him that several individuals in the Frenchtown area were in possession of rock cocaine. The confidential informant was then equipped with a wireless transmitter and sent back into the 400 Block of Macomb Street. At 10:49 p.m., the confidential informant told the officer monitoring the electronic device that a black male wearing a red shirt, white shorts, and white sneakers was in possession of $50 worth of rock cocaine in the rear alley of Crump's at 421 North Macomb Street. Based on that information, Officers Etheridge and Adams went to the rear alley where they found only one individual (appellant) who fit the informant's description among the 20-40 people who were present. Etheridge came up behind appellant and then held him while Adams conducted a body search which resulted in the discovery of rock cocaine in the pocket of appellant's shorts. The search occurred at approximately 10:52 p.m.

The confidential informant was an informant for the Vice Section of the Tallahassee Police Department. During about a five-month period, the confidential informant had supplied Etheridge with information leading to the discovery of rock cocaine and subsequent arrests in approximately six cases. There was no set agreement with the confidential informant, but generally he would be paid a small fee for supplying worthwhile information.

The issue in this case is whether the officer had probable cause to search and arrest appellant. The same probable cause standard applies irrespective of whether a warrant was issued to conduct a search or effect an arrest. Whiteley v. Warden of Wyoming Penitentiary, 401 U.S. 560, 91 S.Ct. 1031, 28 L.Ed.2d 306 (1971); D'Agostino v. State, 310 So.2d 12 (Fla.1975). The present case involves a warrantless search and arrest of an individual predicated on information received from a confidential informant. The standard for determining probable cause based on such a tip is the "totality of the circumstances" test. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). Although in Gates the court rejected the Aguilar-Spinelli two-pronged test, it also stated that the informant's veracity, reliability, and basis of knowledge are still highly relevant in determining the value of the tip.

In the present case, as proof of the confidential informant's veracity, Officer Etheridge testified that the confidential informant had provided him with reliable information about six times leading to the discovery of rock cocaine and subsequent arrests. He also stated that the confidential informant was an informant for the Vice Section of the Tallahassee Police Department and that the daytime vice investigators had permitted him to use this particular informant at night. The suggestion is that the relationship between the vice section and the informant was one of some duration, from which it can reasonably be inferred that the police officers would not have...