State v. Billingsly
| Decision Date | 27 April 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-1388,88-1388 |
| Parties | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 1054 STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Robert Alan BILLINGSLY, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Laura Griffin, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellant.
Thomas C. Greene of Greene, Colegrove, deGroot Chartered, Sanford, for appellee.
The state appeals a suppression order. We reverse.
In 1987, the defendant, Robert Billingsly, was charged with possession of cocaine. Prior to trial, Billingsly moved to suppress statements he made to police on the basis that his arrest was illegal.
At the suppression hearing, Deputy Sheriff Dennis Strange testified that on September 12, 1986, he was on the roof of a hotel observing the parking lot below. Strange noticed a vehicle in the parking lot in which two men, later identified as Billingsly and a man named Blemly, were seated. Blemly was in the driver's seat and Billingsly was in the front passenger seat. Blemly turned the interior light on and off numerous times. Strange got down from the roof and walked around to the back of the vehicle and observed it for a while. Blemly turned the interior light on again and Strange could see Blemly doing something with his hand between his legs. Strange could also see that Billingsly was looking at whatever Blemly was doing.
As Strange walked closer to the vehicle, Blemly turned off the light. Strange continued to approach the vehicle and used his flashlight to see what Blemly was doing. Strange saw Blemly holding a mirror or dark glass square with a white powdery substance on it and a razor in his other hand. Based on his training, Strange believed that the powdery substance was cocaine.
Blemly immediately put the glass underneath his legs and attempted to back his car out of the parking lot but was blocked by another vehicle. Strange then knocked on the window and asked Blemly to open the door. Blemly refused to do so and instead he rolled down the window and tried to disperse the cocaine. Strange reached inside the window, unlocked the door and then opened it. As Strange attempted to handcuff Blemly, he noticed that Billingsly was trying to put his hand in his right pocket. Strange directed him to put his hands on the dashboard. Billingsly did not comply and kept trying to reach into his pocket. Billingsly finally put his hands on the dash but only for a few seconds. Billingsly then said he was getting out of the car and did so despite Strange's demand not to do so. Billingsly walked to the front of the vehicle, pulled both hands out of his pockets, threw them up in the air and said something to the effect of "What's the problem here, officer?" A brown vial containing a white powdery substance which appeared to be cocaine was found a few minutes later in the same area where Billingsly had lifted his hands. No one else had been in the location besides Blemly and Billingsly.
Both Blemly and Billingsly were arrested. At the police station, Billingsly made the statement that he was going to lose his business for the small amount of drugs that he had.
The facts in this case establish that Deputy Strange was located in a nonprotected area (the parking lot) looking inside a constitutionally protected area (the vehicle). At this point, no search occurred and there was no fourth amendment violation. See Ensor v. State, 403 So.2d 349 (Fla.1981). The act of Deputy Strange in shining his flashlight to illuminate the interior of the vehicle violated no rights secured by the fourth amendment. See United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294, 107 S.Ct. 1134, 94 L.Ed.2d 326 (1987) (...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
U.S. v. George
...772, 778-79, 227 Cal.Rptr. 550, 553 (1986) (steering column); People v. Romero, 767 P.2d 1225, 1227 (Colo.1989); State v. Billingsly, 542 So.2d 444, 445 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1989); Catchings v. State, 256 Ga. 241, 347 S.E.2d 572, 578 (1986) (ashtray); Shaw v. State, 253 Ga. 382, 320 S.E.2d 371,......
-
Sierra v. State, 89-1703
...1138 (1980); State v. Starke, 550 So.2d 547 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); State v. Ecker, 550 So.2d 545 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); State v. Billingsly, 542 So.2d 444 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989). The deputy checked the building, saw no apparent damage, and called for a backup. When backup arrived the officers approa......
-
Houston v. State
...of cocaine was provided by officer's observation of white powdery substance in plastic bag in defendant's mouth); State v. Billingsly, 542 So.2d 444 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989) (observation of mirror or glass, white powdery substance, and razor blade inside vehicle gave sheriff probable cause to ar......
-
State v. Green, 2D05-849.
...and thus did not implicate Fourth Amendment protections. See Roberts v. State, 566 So.2d 848 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990); State v. Billingsly, 542 So.2d 444 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989) (citing Texas v. Brown, 460 U.S. 730, 103 S.Ct. 1535, 75 L.Ed.2d 502 (1983)). Once the officer illuminated the inside of t......