Huffer v. State
| Decision Date | 29 April 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 76--792,76--792 |
| Citation | 344 So.2d 1332 |
| Parties | Clyde R. HUFFER, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Jack O. Johnson, Public Defender, Bartow, and Douglas A. Wallace, Asst. Public Defender, Bradenton, for appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Tallahasee, and Richard G. Pippinger, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
This appeal is from the trial court's denial of appellant's motion to suppress some marijuana plants seized without a warrant from a 'hothouse' located on appellant's residential premises. Appellant pled Nolo contendere to a violation of Section 893.13, Florida Statutes (1975), which proscribes the unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance. He specifically reserved the right to appeal the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress. Adjudication of guilt and imposition of sentence were withheld, and appellant was placed on probation for four years.
Appellant contends that the hothouse was within the curtilage of his residence, and thus deserving of constitutional protection The state, however, argues that no search warrant was required since the area searched was outside the scope of that protection. We agree with appellant and reverse.
Rosario Caligione was a police officer with the Tarpon Springs Police Department. During his off-duty hours he operated an ice-cream parlor. A customer of the ice-cream parlor informed Officer Caligione that the appellant was growing marijuana at his home in Pasco County. Officer Caligione decided to investigate the matter personally, even though he had no police authority in Pasco County. Thinking that appellant's residence was within the limits of Port Richey, he enlisted the aid of Officer Douglas of the Port Richey Police Department. The two officers drove to the appellant's residence at approximately 11:30 P.M., without making any attempt to first procure a search warrant.
The officers parked their car a short distance down the road from appellant's residence, and walked through his side yard into his back yard. As they approached the hothouse, a small structure built of lumber and draped with sheets of plastic, they noticed a small tear (approximately 18 ) in the plastic. Officer Douglas shined his flashlight into the tear and observed marijuana plants inside. While Caligione remained at the scene, Douglas went back to the car and radioed the Pasco County Sheriff's Department, as it had become apparent that the appellant's residence was just outside the city limits of Port Richey. Two Pasco County deputies soon arrived, followed by a third a short time later. These three officers also viewed the marijuana plants.
The protection afforded 'houses' in the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Rights of the Florida Constitution also includes the curtilage, I.e., the ground and buildings immediately surrounding a dwelling and customarily used in connection with it. Dinkens v. State, 291 So.2d 122 (Fla.2d DCA 1974). The hothouse in this case certainly falls within this concept. It was no farther than forty feet from the appellant's dwelling, and perhaps as close as ten feet (testimony differs on this point). The very nature of the hothouse indicates that it was used frequently, and in connection with appellant's home.
In the past decade a new concept of Fourth Amendment protection has evolved. Rather than being guided...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Oliver
...as to his person, house, papers or effects. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967); Huffer v. State, 344 So.2d 1332 (Fla.2d DCA 1977). Searches of the person therefore include any physical touching of an individual's body or clothing that causes hidden obje......
-
State v. Seagull
...to wrong house; one went to side and rear, far from all access routes; peered into bathroom and kitchen windows); Huffer v. State, 344 So.2d 1332 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1977) (officer outside his jurisdiction, not on legitimate police business, went into backyard at night and shone flashlight in......
-
Riley v. State
...from which some roof and side panels were missing), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1058, 107 S.Ct. 2200, 95 L.Ed.2d 855 (1987); Huffer v. State, 344 So.2d 1332 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977) (reasonable expectation of privacy in hothouse located on residential premises even though plastic covering may have all......
-
State v. Parker
...394 So.2d 408 (Fla.1981) (defendant's expectation of privacy held to extend to rear unenclosed yard of residence); Huffer v. State, 344 So.2d 1332 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977) (reasonable expectation of privacy in hothouse located behind defendant's house, notwithstanding the fact that it was constru......