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Raulerson v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District
Jul 27, 1998
714 So. 2d 536 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)

Summary

holding that an anonymous tip combined with a trash pull uncovering a small amount of cannabis-related debris did not establish a fair probability that cannabis would be found in the defendant's home

Summary of this case from State v. Green

Opinion

No. 97-2080

June 17, 1998 Rehearing Denied July 27, 1998

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, St. Lucie County; Ben L. Bryan, Jr., Judge; L.T. Case No. 96-2536CFB.

Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Susan D. Cline, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Aubin Wade Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.


Gayle Raulerson appeals from the trial court order denying her motion to suppress contraband found in her residence pursuant to a search warrant. The trial court denied the motion because it found that the affidavit submitted in support of the search warrant provided the requisite probable cause. Our review of the record, however, leads us to conclude that the affidavit did not provide the required probable cause. Accordingly, we reverse.

Following an anonymous complaint that residents at Raulerson's address were involved in drug activity, police went to Raulerson's home, where officers retrieved six bags of trash from the curb in front of the home. After searching through the bags individually, they found two cannabis cigarette butts, stems, seeds, and pieces of suspected cannabis. A field test of the pieces tested positive for cannabis. Based on this discovery, the officers obtained a search warrant. Execution of the warrant produced contraband.

Raulerson, arguing that the affidavit given in support of the warrant lacked probable cause, moved to suppress the evidence. The trial court found the affidavit sufficient and denied suppression.

We find merit in Raulerson's argument. Although the affidavit contained relevant information that the substance found in the one-time trash pull tested positive for cannabis, we believe the affidavit lacked other sufficient material facts to indicate a fair probability that cannabis would be found in Raulerson's home.

The instant case is distinguishable from State v. Jacobs, 437 So.2d 166 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. dismissed, 441 So.2d 632 (Fla. 1983), where the court held an affidavit based on evidence retrieved in two separate trash pulls was sufficient to support a finding of probable cause. The instant case is also distinguishable from those cases involving discovery of narcotics from a one-time trash pull, where additional information was included in the affidavits which suggested patterns of continuous drug activity sufficient to support a finding of probable cause to search. For example, in State v. Mayes, 666 So.2d 165 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), the affidavit contained not only information of a one-time trash pull leading to the discovery of narcotics, but also of "the officers' observation of and the `concerned citizen's' report of traffic to and from the [defendant's] home at all hours of the day and night. . . ." Id. at 165. Similarly in Scott v. State, 559 So.2d 269 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990) the affidavit contained not only information of a one-time trash pull leading to the discovery of narcotics, but also "information concerning activities at the [defendant's] residence observed during surveillance by a Broward sheriff's deputy . . . and information furnished to the sheriff's office by one of appellant's neighbors concerning his observations of activities at the residence." Id. at 272.

Because we find that the information contained in the affidavit in this case does not suggest a pattern of continuous drug activity, we reverse.

REVERSED.

GUNTHER, J., concurs.

SHAHOOD, J., dissents with opinion.


I would affirm the trial court's denial of appellant's motion to suppress. The facts in this case are in harmony with the facts in State v. Mayes, 666 So.2d 165 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995).

My review of the record leads me to conclude that the affidavit contained sufficient material facts to indicate a fair probability that cannabis would be found in appellant's home; therefore, sufficient probable cause existed.


Summaries of

Raulerson v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District
Jul 27, 1998
714 So. 2d 536 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)

holding that an anonymous tip combined with a trash pull uncovering a small amount of cannabis-related debris did not establish a fair probability that cannabis would be found in the defendant's home

Summary of this case from State v. Green

In Raulerson v. State, 714 So.2d 536, 537 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), for example, we refused to base the reasonableness of a search on the number of times the police had retrieved defendant's trash.

Summary of this case from State v. Colitto

In Raulerson v. State, 714 So.2d 536, 537 (Fla. 4th Dist.Ct.App. 1998), the court determined that even though two cannabis cigarette butts, stems, seeds, and other cannabis particles were found in a single trash search, the evidence did not suggest a pattern of continuous drug activity.

Summary of this case from Edwards v. State

distinguishing a case where evidence discovered from a single trash pull, without anything more, did not establish probable cause from other cases where single trash pulls, accompanied by police surveillance and citizens' reports suggesting a pattern of continuous drug activity, established probable cause

Summary of this case from Commonwealth v. Matias

In Gesell and Raulerson v. State, 714 So.2d 536 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), there had been anonymous tips suggesting that the defendant in each case was selling drugs from the home.

Summary of this case from State v. Gross

In Raulerson, appellant appealed the denial of a motion to suppress contraband found in her home pursuant to a search warrant.

Summary of this case from Cruz v. State

In Raulerson, based on an anonymous complaint that there was drug activity, a trash pull revealed two cannabis cigarette butts, stems, seeds and pieces of cannabis.

Summary of this case from Baker v. State

In Raulerson, we distinguished State v. Jacobs, 437 So.2d 166 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), because in that case there had been two separate trash pulls.

Summary of this case from Baker v. State
Case details for

Raulerson v. State

Case Details

Full title:GAYLE RAULERSON, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District

Date published: Jul 27, 1998

Citations

714 So. 2d 536 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)

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