Porter v. State

• Decision Date: 23 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. 4D99-1425.,4D99-1425.
• Parties: Jerry PORTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

765 So.2d 76

Jerry PORTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 4D99-1425.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

August 23, 2000.

Yasmin G. Jacob of Yasmin G. Jacob, Attorney at Law, Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Robert R. Wheeler, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

EN BANC

HAZOURI, J.

Jerry Porter appeals from his conviction and sentence for robbery with a weapon. Porter raises four points on appeal. We find none of these points warrant a reversal but address only the point related to the trial court's denial of Porter's motion to suppress. Because we find that the officers who arrested Porter were in "fresh pursuit," we hold that the trial court properly denied Porter's motion to suppress and affirm Porter's conviction and sentence.

The ruling of the trial court on a motion to suppress comes to the appellate court clothed with a presumption of correctness and the reviewing court will interpret the evidence and reasonable inferences and deductions derived therefrom in a manner most favorable to sustaining the trial court's ruling. See McNamara v. State, 357 So.2d 410, 412 (Fla.1978)

; Glover v. State, 677 So.2d 374, 376 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); State v. Houston, 616 So.2d 595, 596 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). While we are required to accept the trial court's determination of the historical facts leading to the search, a defendant is entitled to a de novo review of whether the application of the law to the historical facts establishes an adequate basis for the trial court's finding of probable cause. See Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 691, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996).

On May 17, 1998, at approximately 10:59 p.m., Pompano Beach police officers received a BOLO that an armed robbery had occurred in the vicinity of Dixie Highway and Atlantic Boulevard in Pompano Beach, Florida. The BOLO specified that the perpetrators of the crime were four black males who left the scene in a white, four-door older model Cadillac. The BOLO also indicated that the Cadillac was headed west on Atlantic Avenue in the direction of 1-95. When the BOLO came over the radio, Pompano Beach police officers Romb and Fletcher were traveling on Dixie Highway and Racetrack Road, an area in close proximity to the crime and to I-95.

In response to the BOLO, and based on additional information reported by an off-duty police officer that a white Cadillac was observed getting on I-95 in a southbound direction, Officers Romb and Fletcher immediately drove a short distance and entered I-95 southbound at Cypress Creek Road. Officers Romb and Fletcher were unable to see or locate the Cadillac when they first entered I-95. The officers continued to travel south on I-95 and pulled over into the left hand emergency lane to wait to see if the Cadillac was in fact southbound on I-95. The officers continued south past Commercial Boulevard, which put them in an area approximately five to seven miles from the alleged crime scene and in the city of Fort Lauderdale. The officers drove slowly, watching for any vehicle matching the description given in the BOLO. Within three to three and one-half minutes of receiving the BOLO, the officers spotted a white, four-door Cadillac in the far left lane approaching them from behind. As the Cadillac passed the officers, they observed it traveling at a high rate of speed and that it was being driven by a black male. Officers Romb and Fletcher immediately began to follow the white Cadillac, as it met the description in the BOLO. As the officers got closer, they were able to ascertain that at least four black males were in the vehicle.

The officers followed the vehicle for approximately one and one-half miles and then put on their flashing lights, signaling the driver to pull over. After the police lights were activated, the vehicle continued to travel at a high rate of speed for approximately another mile and then exited 1-95 at Sunrise Boulevard, which is within the city limits of Fort Lauderdale. The officers followed the vehicle as it traveled west on Sunrise Boulevard and it thereafter pulled into a nearby apartment complex located at N.W. 27th Avenue. All four occupants immediately tried to flee from the vehicle. Officers Romb and Fletcher were able to detain the four occupants. Once the occupants were safely secured, the officers approached the Cadillac and saw through the car windows several items that met the descriptions of items taken during the robbery. The four occupants were arrested for robbery and all relevant evidence was seized. It was undisputed that the arrest and seizure took place within the city of Fort Lauderdale and was effectuated by Pompano Beach police officers.

Based upon the foregoing historical facts, the trial court concluded that pursuant to section 901.25, Florida Statutes (1997), the Pompano Beach police officers were in fresh pursuit and entitled to effectuate a valid arrest outside their jurisdiction which thereafter led to a valid search and seizure. Generally, an officer of a county or municipality has no official power to arrest an offender outside the boundaries of the officer's county or municipality. See Huebner v. State, 731 So.2d 40, 44 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)

(citation omitted). However, "[t]he fresh pursuit exemption allows officers who attempt to detain or arrest within their territorial jurisdiction, to continue to pursue a fleeing suspect even though the suspect crosses jurisdictional lines. The power to arrest after fresh pursuit presupposes that the officer had legally sufficient grounds to detain or arrest before they left their jurisdiction." Id. (citations omitted).

"Fresh pursuit" and "arrest outside the jurisdiction" are defined, in pertinent part, in section 901.25, Florida Statutes (1997), as follows:

(1) The term "fresh pursuit" as used in this act shall include fresh pursuit as defined by the common law and also the pursuit of a person who has committed a felony or who is reasonably suspected of having committed a felony. It shall also include the pursuit of a person suspected of having committed a supposed felony, though no felony has actually been committed, if there is reasonable ground for believing that a felony has been committed. It shall also include the pursuit of a person who has violated a county or municipal ordinance or chapter 316 or has committed a misdemeanor.

(2) Any duly authorized state, county, or municipal arresting officer is authorized to arrest a person outside the officer's jurisdiction when in fresh pursuit. Such officer shall have the same authority to arrest and hold such person in custody outside his or her jurisdiction, subject to the limitations hereafter set forth, as has any authorized arresting state, county, or municipal officer of this state to arrest and hold in custody a person not arrested in fresh pursuit.

Under the common law doctrine of fresh pursuit, an officer may pursue a felon or a suspected felon, with or without a warrant, into another jurisdiction and arrest him there. According to the Court of Appeals of Washington:

The rationale supporting this rule is that sometimes desperate criminals will head straight across jurisdictional lines following the commission of a crime, knowing there is relative safety on the other side. Once in a foreign jurisdiction, the pursuing officer from the jurisdiction where the crime was committed is no longer an officer. The fresh pursuit exception hamstrings these criminals by authorizing the pursuing officer to stop and arrest the fleeing criminal in the foreign jurisdiction.

City of Wenatchee v. Durham, 43 Wash. App. 547, 718 P.2d 819, 821 (1986).

In arriving at the conclusion that section 901.25 entitled the Pompano Beach police officers to arrest Porter outside their jurisdiction, the trial court found the following:

The evidence reveals that the alleged robbery occurred at a location near Dixie Highway and Atlantic Boulevard. The court notes that such an area is within a few miles of the entry into the city of Fort Lauderdale. Although Officers Romb and Fletcher were in the city of Fort Lauderdale when they initially observed the defendants and when they effectuated their arrest, such an area is not far in time or distance from where the alleged robbery had occurred. The area in which the officers waited to see if a vehicle matching a description in the BOLO would pass is a logical travel route for the perpetrators to take and in fact, they did take. Once in pursuit of the vehicle due to its match of the description given in the BOLO, the officers were in hot or fresh pursuit.

Porter argues that our recent holding in State v. Greer, 761 So.2d 343 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), compels the finding that the Pompano Beach police officers were not in fresh pursuit and thus the arrest and search and seizure are invalid. In Greer, a burglary had occurred on the Seminole Indian reservation. A resident of the Indian reservation discovered two men burglarizing his vehicle parked outside his residence located on the reservation. He called the Seminole police department and described the perpetrators and their vehicle. The police department issued a BOLO for the vehicle and its occupants. An officer of the department located the vehicle within ten minutes at a car wash outside the Indian reservation. Greer moved to suppress his confession and subsequent search and seizure on the ground that the Seminole police were beyond their jurisdiction when they detained and arrested him. The trial court agreed, holding that the officer was not in "fresh pursuit" and was thus impermissibly outside of his jurisdiction when he detained Greer. In affirming the trial court, we held:

In the instant case, the burglary had been committed, the perpetrators had departed, and the crime had been reported to the authorities. A BOLO was issued for the vehicle. The vehicle was not spotted within the

...