Case Name: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. John ISAACS, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1991-05-01
Citations: 578 So. 2d 523
Docket Number: No. 90-2397
Parties: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. John ISAACS, Appellee.
Judges: POLEN, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 578
Pages: 523–526

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. John ISAACS, Appellee.
No. 90-2397.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
May 1, 1991.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Carol Cobourn Asbury, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellant.
David R. Smith, Fort Lauderdale, for ap-pellee.

Opinion:
STONE, Judge.
We affirm an order granting a motion to suppress. At the hearing, an officer testified that at 8:30 p.m. he was on patrol in an area high in the sale of street level narcotics. The officer saw Isaacs driving slowly down the street, circle and return. A man riding a bicycle approached Isaacs' car. The officer testified that he was unaware whether this man was a drug dealer. He observed the man point to an area by an adjacent cemetery. Isaacs drove his car to that area, which was on a public street with the cemetery on each side, where he was soon joined by the man on the bicycle. It was dark and there were no street lights. Observing through binoculars, the officer could not see what transpired. The officer, suspicious that a drug transaction might have taken place, subsequently stopped Isaacs' ear. The officer held Isaacs until a back-up officer arrived. He then searched part of the car while the back-up officer detained the driver. Appellee was read Miranda rights and questioned. Isaacs then admitted that he had cocaine rocks. A search of his person revealed the drugs.
Police may not stop vehicles on a bare suspicion that the occupants are violating the law. Coladonato v. State, 348 So.2d 326 (Fla.1977). However, the state contends that the officer had a sufficiently founded suspicion to stop the vehicle for further investigation. Cf. Kearse v. State, 384 So.2d 272 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980).
In Peabody v. State, 556 So.2d 826 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), the opinion recites that a surveillance was being conducted in a neighborhood known for its drug activity and "[t]he appellant, the only white male in the area, was observed talking to several other males. He subsequently approached a man in an automobile which was parked in a lighted parking lot. After the man extended his open hand, palm up, toward the appellant, the officer who observed this activity, but who did not see anything passing between the two men, requested the assistance of uniformed officers in the area. The officers converged on the men and stopped the appellant." The court held that these facts alone were insufficient to raise the officer's suspicion to a "founded" suspicion.
In State v. Hoover, 520 So.2d 696 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988), we affirmed a suppression order under similar circumstances. In Hoover, a deputy observed a car driven by the defendant, a white male, in a predominantly black and heavy drug sales area. A black male was leaning up against the door. The deputy observed the pedestrian then walk away "kinda fast" into a trail in the woods. The deputy subsequently stopped the car on his suspicion that a drug deal had occurred. See also, King v. State, 521 So.2d 334 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); Kearse v. State; Bolinger v. State, 576 So.2d 875 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991); G.J.P. v. State, 469 So.2d 826 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985).
We find no error in the conclusion of the trial court that the officer had insufficient information to constitute a "founded suspicion" of criminal activity to legally justify a stop. Therefore, the stop and seizure were not legally justified.
POLEN, J., concurs.
GARRETT, J., dissents with opinion.