Marijuana Suppressed | No Reasonable Suspicion | Flight

Flight in Car

Criminal Defense Attorney / Lawyer in Tampa studied a Search and seizure case involving a Vehicle stop. The court's opinion is a free download here.  Officer testified that defendant took off in his car - in cop talk  this is called "Flight." Cop testified to the following:

Defendant standing in front of a parked car;
Vacant lot of a closed gas station;
High crime area at 1:15 a.m.;
Defendant entered the car;
Departed upon making eye contact with the officer.

The Court ruled that the police did not have reasonable suspicion for the stop of the vehicle Motion to suppress marijuana discovered in search of vehicle granted.


Can Your Marijuana be Suppressed? Call Me Toll Free 1-877-793-9290 .

Case Excerpts: 

"As explained in  Paff v. State, 884 So. 2d 271, 273 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004),  a “car that obeys all traffic regulations when leaving a location when a police car arrives would seem to be the motor vehicle equivalent of a person who simply walks away from an officer on foot. Such a person does not invoke the rule of Wardlow.” Here, Appellant did not flee at a high rate of speed or in a reckless manner so as to suggest flight."

"We therefore reverse the trial court’s denial of the Appellant’s motion to suppress, and accordingly REVERSE the Appellant’s judgment of conviction and vacate his sentence." 

Source: Hill,  v. State 1st District. January 2011.