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Gomez v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Dec 15, 1999
748 So. 2d 352 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1999)

Opinion

No. 99-1186.

Opinion filed December 15, 1999. Rehearing Denied February 9, 2000.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County, Ronald Dresnick, Judge; L.T. No. 97-39198.

Michael Blacker, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Frank J. Ingrassia, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before LEVY, GODERICH and GREEN, JJ.


We affirm the defendant's convictions and sentences for trafficking in cocaine and violation of probation. A review of the record shows that the trial court properly denied the defendant's motion to suppress the cocaine seized. Regardless of the individual officer's motivation, the traffic stop was lawful because the officer had probable cause to believe that the defendant had violated the traffic code by driving a vehicle with an expired temporary tag. Holland v. State, 696 So.2d 757 (Fla. 1997) (holding that the constitutional reasonableness of a traffic stop is not dependent on the motivations of the individual officers involved, rather that it is dependent on the simple objective test of whether the officer had probable cause to believe that the defendant violated a traffic code) (citing Whren v. U.S., 517 U.S. 806 (1996)); State v. Stachell, 681 So.2d 802 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Further, the seizure was lawful because the defendant voluntarily gave the officer consent to search the car for his registration and insurance card. Deheny v. State, 400 So.2d 1216 (Fla. 1980).

Affirmed.


Summaries of

Gomez v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Dec 15, 1999
748 So. 2d 352 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1999)
Case details for

Gomez v. State

Case Details

Full title:PABLO GOMEZ, Appellant, vs. THE STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: Dec 15, 1999

Citations

748 So. 2d 352 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1999)

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