Motion to Suppress for Violation of 4th Amendment Rights
Jurisdiction: County Court in and for Broward County
Issues: Was the Sheriff’s Deputy permitted to physically open the door to defendant’s vehicle when he located defendant sleeping inside his vehicle in a townhouse parking lot?
Major Case(s):
Federal: 1) United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544(1980); Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1(1968);
2) Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1(1968);
3) Michigan v. Chesternut, 486 U.S. 567 (1988);
State: 1) Brye v. State of Florida, 927 So.2d 78, 81(Fla. 1st DCA 2006);
2) Popple v. State, 626 So.2d 185, 186(Fla. 1993);
3) Horton v. State, 660 So.2d 755, 756 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1995);
4) State v. Ecker, 550 So.2d 545 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1989);
5. Danielewicz v. State, 730 So.2d 363, 364 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1999);
Result: Trial court denied Motion to Suppress ruling that the officer was acting within his role as a community caretaker and checking on the welfare of a citizen. It should be noted that the Deputy testified that the incident took place in a “high crime” area. In reality, the neighborhood where this incident took place was my neighborhood which was located in a country club community on a golf course. Life is rough in the hood. You never know when public people will creep onto your private golf course.
Download ( Motion-to-Suppress.pdf, PDF, 204KB)