McCreary v. State
| Decision Date | 02 March 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-777,88-777 |
| Citation | 538 So.2d 1377,14 Fla. L. Weekly 576 |
| Parties | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 576 Alphonzo McCREARY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Michael E. Allen, Public Defender, and Carl S. McGinnes, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Carolyn A. Mosley, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.
Alphonzo McCreary appeals his conviction of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia on the ground that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence seized from him at the time of his arrest. We reverse.
The evidence in this case established that on September 13, 1987, at approximately 5:00 p.m., Deputy Sheriffs Allen Barton and Kenneth Forrester of the Escambia County Sheriff's Department observed a vehicle bearing Texas license plates parked in front of a lounge in a predominantly black area of Pensacola that is known for drug-related crimes. A white male was sitting in the driver seat; appellant, a black male, was sitting in the front passenger seat; a white female was sitting between the driver and appellant; and a second black male was sitting in the back seat. Although the officers observed no illegal activity, they parked their patrol car behind the subject car. Officer Barton then approached the driver and Officer Forrester approached the passenger's side of the vehicle. Officer Forrester asked appellant to get out of the car and asked him his name. Appellant gave him a false name. Forrester got the other persons' names, went back to the patrol car, and ran a warrant check on them, which came up negative. Meanwhile, Officer Barton talked to the driver, who had gotten out of the car. After the negative warrant check, Barton returned to look around the car and observed some needles on the floorboard of the right passenger side of the vehicle. Forrester and Barton then put the driver in the patrol car, and the driver told them that he was trying to buy narcotics from appellant and that appellant had the narcotics in his shoe. The driver said his wife had a serious narcotics habit and he was trying to purchase either heroin or cocaine for her. The officers then asked appellant if they could check his shoe. While appellant was taking off one of his shoes, Officer Barton noticed that appellant's hand was on the side of his foot and it appeared that he was trying to break up something. Barton reached down and grabbed appellant's hand, and at that point appellant shoved Barton to the ground and ran to the rear of the lounge. At that time, Barton's K-9 dog jumped out of the patrol car and pursued appellant. The dog caught appellant and the officers brought appellant under control and handcuffed him. Officer Forrester then looked in appellant's other shoe and found a small red balloon and two or three red capsules containing a white powdery substance. The lab report on this substance indicated that it was not any type of drug.
The State charged appellant with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, along with other charges not pertinent to this appeal, and appellant filed a motion to suppress the seized evidence. After the court denied the motion, appellant entered a plea of no contest, reserving the right to appeal this denial, and the court adjudicated him guilty of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Appellant argues on appeal that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress because the officers did not have the reasonable suspicion required for the detention to be constitutional.
We find that the officers' actions of parking their patrol car behind the vehicle in which appellant was sitting, ordering the occupants out of the car, and asking their identities, constituted...
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