State v. Starke, 88-02992
| Decision Date | 25 October 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-02992,88-02992 |
| Citation | 550 So.2d 547,14 Fla. L. Weekly 2513 |
| Parties | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 2513 STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Mark Steven STARKE, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and David R. Gemmer, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellant.
Norman S. Cannella of Norman S. Cannella, P.A., Tampa, for appellee.
Appellant, the State of Florida, seeks review of the trial court order granting appellee/defendant, Mark Steven Starke's, motion to suppress cocaine seized as the result of an alleged unlawful search. We reverse.
At 1:00 a.m. on April 8, 1988, Officer John Thickens of the Tampa Police Department was on patrol. He observed a Volkswagen parked in the parking lot behind a restaurant and bar that was still open. One person was sitting in the car, arousing Thickens' suspicions. Thickens circled the block and took up a concealed vantage point behind a broken fence adjacent to the parking lot. The Volkswagen had driven off, but the officer stayed to see if any crime was afoot relating to the Volkswagen.
A couple of minutes later, Thickens saw appellee and another male drive into the parking lot, park and enter the bar. Five minutes later, appellee exited the bar with a girl. The couple got into the car. The parking lot was well lighted and Thickens had a clear view through the back window of the car so that he could see the backs of their heads from about thirty feet away. Appellee and the girl sat in the parked car without turning on the lights or the engine. Thickens saw appellee pass something to the girl, but could not make out what it was. Based on his experience and the fact that his area of patrol had a high incidence of drug use, Thickens suspected the occupants were engaged in drug use. He walked up to the car, knocked on the driver's side window, identified himself as a police officer and shined his flashlight into the front seat of the car. Appellee, sitting in the driver's seat, refused to roll down the window.
When Thickens shined his flashlight into the car, he saw the girl in the passenger's seat with a knife blade underneath her nose. She appeared to be snorting cocaine. The girl started to get out of the car, so Thickens went to the passenger's side and took her into custody. Appellee began to get out of the driver's side, so Thickens took the girl with him to the driver's side to prevent appellee from leaving. Thickens arrested both appellee and the girl for possession of cocaine and found cocaine residue on the knife blade and a little over two grams of cocaine under the driver's seat. The trial court granted appellee's motion to suppress the cocaine seized by Thickens, and appellant/state filed this...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Watson v. State
...of fleeing is not sufficient to support a stop. Grant v. State, 596 So.2d 98 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). This case is unlike State v. Starke, 550 So.2d 547 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989), because the officer there did not stop the defendant until he had seen the contraband. Here, the officer effected the stop ......
-
State v. Sowers, 89-02135
...a marijuana cigarette. The use of the flashlight, under these circumstances, infringes upon no Fourth Amendment rights. State v. Starke, 550 So.2d 547 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); State v. Ecker, 550 So.2d 545 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). Once he had shined the light, and observed the box, powder, and straw,......