Norman v. State
| Decision Date | 07 September 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. GG-437,GG-437 |
| Citation | 362 So.2d 444 |
| Parties | Ray Alton NORMAN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Charles G. Brackins, Fort Lauderdale, and Jeffrey L. Meldon, Gainesville, for appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Michael H. Davidson, Asst. Atty. Gen., and L. Arthur Lawrence, State's Atty., for appellee.
Appellant, Ray Alton Norman, was convicted under Count I of an information of possession of more than five grams of cannabis and under Count II of possession of cannabis with intent to sell same. He appeals the judgments and sentences. We affirm on Count I and reverse on Count II.
The initial question on this appeal is whether or not the trial court erred in denying appellant's motion to suppress the seized marijuana. The evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the state reflects the following: On November 14, 1976, Deputy Sheriff Leyon Beach received information from a confidential informant (reliability not shown) that marijuana belonging to certain persons (not appellant) was stored in a barn on the outskirts of Live Oak. He relayed this information to Sheriff Leonard. The sheriff knew that the property was owned by a Mrs. Hobgood (who was not one of the persons the informant named as owner of the marijuana) and that appellant, Ray Alton Norman, had farmed the property for the previous several months. He also knew that no one was living in the house on the property. He testified that at that time he did not have enough probable cause to obtain a search warrant.
That evening the sheriff went to the farm, and finding the gate locked, he climbed the fence and walked 250 yards to one of several tobacco barns (the packhouse) which had been identified by the confidential informant as the building containing the marijuana. Looking through the window with the aid of his flashlight, he saw substance which he identified as marijuana wrapped in tobacco sheets with some of it protruding from under the sheets. He left the farm and went back to town and then had the farm staked out in surveillance to see who would go and come from it.
Three days later, while on watch at the farm, Deputy Beach observed a truck stop at the gate. The driver opened it and drove back among the barns. About 15 or 20 minutes later, the truck came out and crossed the highway into a field. Deputy Beach pulled behind the truck and asked the driver (appellant) for his driver's license and advised him of his constitutional rights. He then told appellant that he knew there was marijuana in the barn. He testified that he did not place appellant under arrest at that time but told him that he would like to talk to him and appellant said he would tell him the whole story. Deputy Beach then told appellant to wait and tell it to the Sheriff later but that he would like to go in and see if the marijuana was still there if appellant would agree. He told appellant that he did not think appellant was involved with the marijuana, but he did feel that appellant knew it was there. He stated that appellant then said:
"Yeah, I knew it was there." Appellant asked if he could unload the hay off the truck for the cows in the field, and upon unloading it, the two of them went back across the highway to the house and on back to the barns. Deputy Beach testified that he knew which barn the marijuana was stored in and that he purposely went to the wrong barn; that upon doing so, appellant said, "No, it's not in this one, it's in the packhouse over there," pointing to the right barn; that they went over to it and appellant opened the door "and you could see it all in there"; that he told appellant this was a felony and that he would confiscate the marijuana, and appellant said that was all right with him. Deputy Beach then asked appellant if he would come in and talk to the sheriff, and since appellant agreed, he did not place him under arrest. They then went to the sheriff's office and waited for him for 30-45 minutes, and being advised that it would be several hours before the sheriff would be back in town, Beach placed appellant under arrest, went back out to the farm in a truck, loaded the marijuana he had seen and brought it to the jail.
The evidence shows that appellant was a resident of Moultrie, Georgia, and was renting the farm and working it. Deputy Beach testified that he asked appellant if he was renting the farm and appellant advised that he was. The Sheriff testified that at the jail appellant told him that he had received an anonymous telephone call telling him not to look in those barns and that about two weeks prior to his arrest, he had looked in the packhouse and saw marijuana.
It is clear that the sheriff, on his initial trip to the farm, was a trespasser when he climbed the fence and walked 250 yards to the barn. The fact that he was a trespasser, however, does not make his observance of the marijuana through the barn window at that time an unreasonable search. As stated by the District...
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Norman v. State
...cause is before us on petition for writ of certiorari to review a decision of the District Court of Appeal, First District, reported at 362 So.2d 444, which is alleged to be in conflict with Boynton v. State, 64 So.2d 536 (Fla.1953). Boynton holds that a person's business premises are prote......
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Brown v. State, 79-459
...by her and boy friend, the latter being the registered guest, when marijuana and pipe found in plain view on dresser; Norman v. State, 362 So.2d 444 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). Defendant admitted he knew marijuana was in barn on farm he rented; Norris v. State, 351 So.2d 729 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977). De......
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DeMontmorency v. State
...tend to distinguish Brady from the case now before us. Further, the Brady opinion questioned this court's decision in Norman v. State, 362 So.2d 444 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978) 6, because of its reliance upon the concept of property rights surrounding the dwelling house and curtilage, rather than t......
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Wale v. State, 79-1615
...1261 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), cert. denied 378 So.2d 350 (Fla.1979); Winchell v. State, 362 So.2d 992 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1978); Norman v. State, 362 So.2d 444 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978); Norris v. State, 351 So.2d 729 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1977); Dixon v. State, 343 So.2d 1345 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1977); Zicca v. State, ......