Shackelford v. State, 89-03522
| Decision Date | 08 May 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-03522,89-03522 |
| Citation | 579 So.2d 306,16 Fla. L. Weekly 1296 |
| Parties | Eddie SHACKELFORD, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. 579 So.2d 306, 16 Fla. L. Week. 1296 |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Ronald N. Toward, Bartow, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Elaine L. Thompson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
Eddie Shackelford pleaded no contest to possession of cocaine, a third-degree felony, and resisting arrest without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. We reverse the order denying suppression and find that the cocaine was seized as a result of an illegal detention.
Clearwater Police Officer Thompson, an experienced undercover narcotics detective, noticed the appellant in an area known for street level drug sales wave to a vehicle that was slowly driving by. The car stopped, and the appellant leaned toward the passenger window and reached inside. Thompson did not see an exchange, although he had seen the appellant engaging in similar activity before. Thompson also knew the appellant from occasions when Thompson purchased drugs undercover from another defendant. The appellant was present during these transactions, but, as Thompson admitted on cross-examination, the appellant did not participate in the transactions.
Three uniformed officers in a marked patrol car responded to Thompson's call identifying the appellant as a suspected drug dealer. They tried to head the appellant off as he was driving his bicycle, but the appellant eluded them by weaving back and forth. When Officer Quinlan ordered him to stop, the appellant kept going. The three officers chased him on foot finally catching him. Prying open his hand, they found a baggie containing a trace of cocaine.
Section 901.151(2), Florida Statutes (1987), authorizes a temporary detention when an officer has reasonable suspicion to believe the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. A stop is not warranted solely upon an officer's observation of a black male in a high-crime district leaning into the window of a white man's car stopped in the middle of the street who walks away upon seeing an officer approach. Winters v. State, 578 So.2d 5 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). Nor is a stop warranted where the defendant engages in such activity while in the presence of known drug dealers. See Hill v. State, 561 So.2d 1245 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Martin v. State, 521 So.2d 260 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Mosely v. State, 519 So.2d 58 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). Thus, the fact that the appellant had merely been present at other drug transactions does not raise the basis for the officers' suspicion to the level required...
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...raise a mere hunch to the level of founded suspicion. See Smith v. State, 592 So.2d 1206, 1207-08 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Shackelford v. State, 579 So.2d 306 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991); Mosley v. State, 519 So.2d 58 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988) (reversing denial of suppression order where appellant clenched fist......
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