5D10-2250 State v. John Gentry

State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D10-2250

Case Date: 03/07/2011

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JANUARY TERM 2011

STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellant, v. JOHN DIXON GENTRY, Appellee. ________________________________/ Opinion filed March 11, 2011 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Volusia County, R. Michael Hutcheson, Judge. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Carmen F. Corrente, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellant. James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Anne Moorman Reeves, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellee. Case No. 5D10-2250

PALMER, J. The State appeals the order entered by the trial court granting John Dixon Gentry's (defendant) pre-trial motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to a vehicle stop.1 Determining that the trial court erred by granting the suppression motion, we reverse.

Jurisdiction is proper pursuant to rule 9.140(C)(1)(B) of the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure.

1

The defendant was charged by information with grand theft of a motor vehicle2, possession of a schedule IV substance3, and driving without a driver's license4. He filed a pre-trial motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to a vehicle stop and search, arguing that suppression was warranted because the investigating officer did not have a well-founded suspicion that the defendant, who was operating the vehicle, was committing, had committed, or was going to commit a crime, and, thus, the stop of the vehicle was illegal. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Sergeant Currie of the Holly Hill Police Department testified that, while he was on patrol at 4:00 in the morning, his attention was drawn to the defendant's vehicle because the vehicle was stopped at a four-way stop with its brake lights engaged for roughly twenty minutes. Currie contacted Officer Blowers of the Daytona Beach Police Department because the defendant's vehicle was located in Daytona Beach, not Holly Hill, and thus outside Currie's jurisdiction. Blowers arrived within five minutes and pulled behind the defendant's vehicle. He observed that the defendant had his head down. The defendant finally proceeded from the stop sign with Blowers following behind. Blowers then activated his emergency lights and conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle. The defendant was secured in Blowers' patrol car after it was determined that the defendant did not have a valid driver's license. Blowers and Currie then searched the vehicle and seized several items from within. The officers also discovered that the vehicle was stolen.

2

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