State v. Bartee

Decision Date24 June 1993
Docket NumberNo. 76960,76960
Citation623 So.2d 458
CourtFlorida Supreme Court
Parties18 Fla. L. Weekly S385 STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. David BARTEE, Respondent.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Bradley R. Bischoff, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for petitioner.

Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender and Lawrence M. Korn, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for respondent.

KOGAN, Justice.

We have for review State v. Bartee, 568 So.2d 523 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), in which the district court certified its decision as in direct conflict with State v. Perez, 592 So.2d 1099 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), approved, 620 So.2d 1256 (Fla.1993) and State v. Arnold, No. 89-1549 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 31, 1990), withdrawn, 579 So.2d 902 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, Sec. 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.

Police officers assigned to execute arrest warrants in a residential area encountered respondent, Bartee, who was not named in a warrant. One of the officers approached Bartee and asked if he had seen a suspect who had fled after seeing the officer. The officer wore a bullet-resistant vest and a raid jacket with a sheriff's star pinned on it, and he carried a firearm that was covered by his raid jacket. Bartee pointed to a duplex, and said the suspect had gone into it. Bartee was very nervous, and very hesitant to talk to the officer. The conversation was brief, and when the officer stepped back slightly, Bartee ran. The officer then chased Bartee and told him to stop.

Bartee continued to run, followed by the officer. When the officer was approximately twenty yards from Bartee, he saw Bartee reach into his right pocket. At that point, the officer reached for his gun but did not draw it. He called out to Bartee, "Let me see your hands." The officer then observed Bartee discard a pill bottle as Bartee continued to run. He retrieved the bottle, determined that it contained crack cocaine, and radioed to a fellow officer to arrest Bartee for possession of cocaine.

Bartee moved to suppress the crack cocaine prior to trial. The judge found that the officer lacked cause to chase respondent or to order him to stop, and held that such acts constituted a seizure under the fourth amendment. The judge granted the motion to suppress the cocaine, finding that Bartee's subsequent act of throwing the contraband resulted from the officer's unlawful conduct.

On appeal, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed, reasoning that the abandonment of the contraband was the product of an involuntary act directly attributable to the unlawful stop. The court certified conflict with Perez and Arnold which held that a prerequisite to involuntary abandonment is the commencement of an illegal search prior to the abandonment.

This court recently approved Perez and disapproved the opinion under review based on the recent United States Supreme Court decision in California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1...

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9 cases
  • Parker v. Sec'y, Fla. Dep't of Corr.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida
    • January 9, 2013
    ...v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991); Perez v. State, 620 So.2d 1256 (Fla. 1993); State v. Bartee, 623 So.2d 458 (Fla. 1993). Officer Freeman testified that he observed Defendant remove a sweat shirt and discard it on the ground. (Exhibit "E," pages 81-85.) Off......
  • Clinton v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 2, 2001
    ...460 U.S. 491, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983); Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. Bartee, 623 So.2d 458 (Fla.1993); Perez v. State, 620 So.2d 1256, 1257 (Fla.1993); State v. Canada, 715 So.2d 1164 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998); State v. Brown, 616 So.2d 12......
  • Houston v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 31, 2006
    ...was not seized until after probable cause was established, the trial court properly denied his motion to suppress. See State v. Bartee, 623 So.2d 458 (Fla.1993) (chase by police officer and order for defendant to stop did not constitute a seizure, therefore cocaine abandoned during defendan......
  • Lang v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 12, 1996
    ...that a seizure occurs when a person is physically subdued by police, or submits to an officer's show of authority. See also State v. Bartee, 623 So.2d 458 (Fla.1993); Perez v. State, 620 So.2d 1256 (Fla.1993). In this case Lang had not been physically subdued, but he had submitted to the de......
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