Mock v. State
| Decision Date | 28 May 1980 |
| Docket Number | 78-1036 and 79-297,Nos. 78-1021,78-1035,s. 78-1021 |
| Parties | Lawton S. MOCK, Gene R. Tyner, Raymond D. Dery and Benjamin Ellis, Appellants, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Stevan T. Northcutt and Rick B. Levinson of Levine, Freedman, Hirsch & Levinson, Tampa, for appellants Mock, Tyner and Ellis.
Lawrence L. Scott, Tampa, for appellant Dery.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Michael A. Palecki and Michael J. Kotler, Asst. Attys. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
Appellants Lawton S. Mock, Gene R. Tyner, Benjamin Ellis and Raymond D. Dery appeal their convictions and sentences for possession of over 100 pounds of cannabis with intent to sell or deliver, in violation of Section 893.13(1)(a), Florida Statutes, and importation of a controlled substance, in violation of Section 893.13(1)(d), Florida Statutes. In particular, appellants seek review of the trial court's denial of their motions to suppress evidence seized pursuant to an allegedly illegal stop. After the motions to suppress were denied, appellants entered pleas of nolo contendere which they subsequently moved the court to withdraw. The court denied the motions to withdraw pleas and appellants appeal that order also. We affirm.
The facts are as follows:
Two confidential informants told Captain Dempsey of the Polk County Sheriff's Department that appellant Dery was in possession of a DC-3 airplane which he planned to use to import marijuana from South America. Captain Dempsey observed the plane at the Lakeland airport and noted that it was in the process of being converted to a freight configuration. Later, Dempsey learned that the plane was scheduled to land at a secluded, private airstrip in the Green Swamp. He contacted U. S. Customs officials and arranged to fly over the landing strip with a customs agent. During the flight, an orange marker was observed on the landing strip. Several days later Dempsey advised customs agent Warr that he, Dempsey, had to leave the area and had turned the case over to Sergeant Thompson of the sheriff's department.
Subsequently, Sergeant Thompson was informed by a customs agent that the DC-3 airplane had left the Lakeland airport without filing a flight plan. The following evening, about 6:30 p. m., another confidential informant telephoned Sergeant Thompson with the information that two camper trucks were standing by at the Green Swamp airstrip. At about 9:30 p. m. the same evening, Thompson met with customs agents and deputies at the post office parking lot in Polk City to brief them on the case. While the officers were talking they heard a multi-engine aircraft pass overhead at a low altitude without lights, heading in the direction of the Green Swamp. Another phone call to the confidential informant at 10:15 p. m. revealed that the plane had landed at the Green Swamp airstrip some five or six miles distant. The deputies and customs agents headed for the airstrip to seal off the area and locate the aircraft. The airstrip is situated just south of Rockridge Road and north of Dean Still Road in northern Polk County. These two roads run parallel generally east and west. About a mile west of the airstrip, Rockridge Road turns southwest and Dean Still Road intersects with it. From that point, Rockridge Road runs southwest and intersects with Highway 98.
As the law enforcement officers neared the airstrip from Polk City, they decided to approach the strip from the northern entrance off Rockridge Road. They experienced some difficulty locating the entrance road in the dark and the officers then decided to use the southern entrance off Dean Still Road. During this delay, Deputy Seay was stationed in an unmarked car at the intersection of Rockridge and Dean Still Roads in order to watch the area. At about 11:00 p. m. Deputy Seay spotted two camper trucks proceeding slowly toward him on Dean Still Road from the direction of the airstrip. There was no other traffic on the highway. Seay radioed Sergeant Thompson who told him to follow the trucks. He followed the trucks southwest on Rockridge for approximately one-half to three-quarters of a mile until the trucks pulled into the parking lot of a closed convenience store at the intersection of Highway 98. The trucks circled around in the parking lot in a manner which allowed them to stop with their headlights directed back toward Deputy Seay, thus impairing his view. After thirty to forty-five seconds, the trucks pulled out of the parking lot and one headed north on Highway 98, while the other turned south. Both trucks carried out-of-state license tags. Deputy Seay radioed this information, followed the northbound truck, turned on his blue lights and stopped the truck. He and two other deputies in his unmarked car approached the stopped truck with guns in hand. Appellant Mock exited the truck and approached the deputy. Seay stated that he immediately detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the truck. H...
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