State v. Edwards
| Decision Date | 09 June 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-02640,88-02640 |
| Citation | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 1405,547 So.2d 183 |
| Parties | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 1405 STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Kenneth Melton EDWARDS, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Michele Taylor, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellant.
Richard D. Mars, Bartow, for appellee.
The state appeals an order granting Kenneth Edwards' motion to suppress cocaine seized from Edwards' vehicle. We reverse.
Sergeant Waldron of the Lake Wales Police Department received a telephone call from a confidential informant (CI). * The CI provided the officer with the following information. Kenny Edwards' black and gold pickup truck was at Ernie's, a local bar. Soon, Edwards' girlfriend, a white female, would drive the vehicle to the ABC Liquor Lounge. Then Edwards, who would be in possession of two eight balls of cocaine powder, would drive the truck from ABC.
This information was provided to Sergeant Levine, who was dispatched to Ernie's where he located the vehicle. Then Levine went near the ABC Lounge. A few minutes later, Levine observed a white female driving the pickup truck to the ABC. The CI then called Waldron and advised him that the pickup would leave the ABC Lounge in five minutes. Waldron relayed this information to Levine. Approximately five minutes later, Levine observed the vehicle leaving with Edwards driving.
Based on this information, Levine stopped the pickup and searched Edwards and the truck. Levine found a Tylenol bottle inside a litter bag, which was inside the truck. Upon opening the bottle, Levine discovered a plastic baggie containing white material which was determined later to be cocaine.
The state charged Edwards with possession of cocaine. Edwards filed a motion to suppress the cocaine, which the trial court granted. The trial court found that the arresting officer had a well founded suspicion to justify the initial stop but ruled that the officer lacked the necessary probable cause to arrest Edwards or to apply for a search warrant. We disagree.
The officer was justified in searching Edwards' truck without a warrant. The test to be employed in determining whether probable cause existed is the "totality of the circumstances" test set forth in Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). This test is a flexible, common sense approach. Gates, 103 S.Ct. at 2332. In Gates the supreme court held that the police had probable cause to search once they verified the details contained in an anonymous letter which provided information regarding future conduct. See also State v. Abiri, 539 So.2d 492 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) ().
This case is similar to the facts of Draper v. United States, 358 U.S. 307, 79 S.Ct. 329, 3 L.Ed.2d 327 (1959). In Draper an informant reported that Draper would arrive in Denver on a train from Chicago on one of two days and that he would be carrying heroin. The informant described Draper and the clothes that Draper would be wearing. On the stated date in Denver the officers observed a man matching the description and wearing the described clothing exit a train which arrived from Chicago. The supreme court held that the officers had probable cause to...
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