Case Name: Kelly HOSEY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1993-12-10
Citations: 627 So. 2d 1289
Docket Number: No. 92-1545
Parties: Kelly HOSEY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: THOMPSON, J„ concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 627
Pages: 1289–1295

Head Matter:
Kelly HOSEY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 92-1545.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Dec. 10, 1993.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Daniel J. Schafer, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.
Robert W. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Myra J. Fried, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

Opinion:
HARRIS, Chief Judge.
Kelly Hosey rushed to board a train in Miami in a manner that caused a police officer to become suspicious that she might be a drug courier. Although it was too late for him to board the train, the officer telephoned the Volusia County Sheriffs Department and explained his suspicion. Acting on this tip, Deputies Crawford, Gambrell and a third officer boarded the train at a later stop in DeLand. They found Hosey in a sleeping compartment — a small room with a door. It was approximately 11:00 p.m. when the officers knocked on the door of Hosey's compartment.
Although the testimony was in conflict, Deputy Crawford testified that the three officers went to the train station to see if Hosey would agree to talk to them. When Hosey answered their knock, Crawford identified himself as a Volusia County Narcotics officer. He asked for identification and then requested Hosey's consent to search the compartment and her luggage. The officers did not exhibit any weapons, nor did they suggest that they would arrest her or obtain a search warrant if she refused to give consent. Ho-sey consented to the search, which revealed in excess of 200 grams of cocaine wrapped in two plastic bags which were rolled up in a pair of socks.
Hosey moved to suppress the evidence of cocaine. The trial court, after hearing all the testimony and weighing the credibility of the witnesses, found that Hosey had voluntarily given consent:
I think that she did have a reasonable expectation of privacy but I think that she gave valid consent, but I don't think that the officers' conduct was unreasonable or outrageous or threatening.
The court denied the motion to suppress. Hosey pled no contest, reserving her right to appeal, which she has now done. We affirm.
The first question to ask on review is whether the court focused on the correct legal issue. We find that it did. The court found that Hosey freely consented to the search and that the deputies did not obtain this consent through police misconduct.
The next question is whether this determination finds support in the record, nosey's consent was not invalidated by her expectation of privacy. Prior to obtaining her consent, the officers did nothing more than knock on the door of her compartment and ask to speak with her. It is not unlawful to knock on the door of even a private residence. The officers did not enter without first being given permission to do so. The existence of an expectation of privacy does not mean that consent cannot be given. That is precisely the reason consent is required. The only issue, therefore, is whether the record supports the trial court's finding that the consent was not coerced.
The State relies on Florida v. Bostick, — U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 2382, 115 L.Ed.2d 389 (1991), which we agree is controlling. In that case, the court discussed the defendant's argument and the correct legal standard:
Bostick insists that this case is different because it took place in the cramped confines of a bus. Police encounter is much more intimidating in this setting, he argues, because police tower over a seated passenger and there is little room to move around.
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Bostick's freedom of movement was restricted by a factor independent of police conduct, i.e., by his being a passenger on a bus. Accordingly, . the appropriate inquiry is whether a reasonable person would feel free to decline the officers' request or otherwise terminate the encounter.
⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜
We remand so that the Florida courts may evaluate the seizure question under the correct legal standard. We do reject, however, Bostick's argument that he must have been seized because no reasonable person would freely consent to a search of luggage that he or she knows contains drugs. This argument cannot prevail be cause the "reasonable person" test presupposes an innocent person.
⅝ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜
Clearly, a bus passenger's decision to cooperate with law enforcement officers authorizes the police to conduct a search without first obtaining a warrant only if the cooperation is voluntary. "Consent" that is the product of official intimidation is not consent at all. Citizens do not forfeit their constitutional rights when they are coerced to comply with a request that they would prefer to refuse. The question to be decided by the Florida courts on remand is whether Bostick chose to permit the search of his luggage.
— U.S. at -, 111 S.Ct. at 2386-2388. On remand, the Florida Supreme Court found that Bostick's consent was voluntary. Bostick v. State, 593 So.2d 494 (Fla.1992).
The Bostick facts are very similar to those of the case at bar. Bostick was restricted to the "cramped confines" of a bus; Hosey was restricted to the cramped confines of a sleeping compartment. Just like Bostick, Hosey's freedom of movement was "restricted by a factor independent of police conduct." The only noteworthy factual distinction between Bostick and the instant case is that in Bos-tick the police officers specifically informed the defendant that he need not consent. And while such a statement would be persuasive (perhaps even, conclusive) evidence that a seizure had not occurred, the law does not require such Miranda-like compliance in order to avoid the finding that a seizure has occurred. The Bostick court clearly indicated the focus of the inquiry is much broader:
[I]n order to determine whether a particular encounter constitutes a seizure, a court must consider all of the circumstances surrounding the encounter to determine whether the police conduct would have communicated to a reasonable person that the person was not free to decline the officer's request or otherwise terminate the encounter. (Emphasis added.)
Bostick, — U.S. at -, 111 S.Ct. at 2389.
Notice that while this standard requires that the police do or say nothing to indicate that the individual approached is not free to refuse the request or to break off the encounter, it places no affirmative duty on the police to specifically inform such person that he is free to refuse the request or to end the encounter.
All Hosey needed to do in this case was to close her door. There is nothing in the record that refutes the trial judge's finding that the actions of the police did not suggest to Hosey that she could not close her door and terminate the encounter. The trial court found that she voluntarily elected to cooperate with the police and to permit the search. There is adequate record support for this conclusion.
AFFIRMED.
THOMPSON, J" concurs.
PETERSON, J., dissents, with opinion.
. The record adequately supports the trial court's finding that there was no illegal police action-no invalid detention or arrest or illegal search: Officer Harold Crawford:
Q. When you wanted to contact her, what was going to be your approach?
A. All we could do is just go up and ask her if she would talk to us.
Q. If she had not talked to you, what would you have done?
A. Wasn't much else we could do but leave.
⅜ ⅜ ¡jí ⅜ ⅞⅜⅞ ⅜
A. Well, she opened the door and I identified myself as who I was, she opened the door when we knocked.
Q. Did you order her to open the door?
A. I did not.
Q. Once she opened the door, did you show her any credentials?
A. Yes, I did.
⅞: ⅜! ⅝ sH ⅜: #
Q. What else did you say?
A. I went ahead and identified myself as a Volusia County narcotics officer and asked to see some identification. And went on to explain to her that we had received a phone call that she might be carrying illegal narcotics.
Q. All right. What else did you say to her?
A. Then I asked for her consent or asked her if she would talk to me and she said sure.
Q. And what else?
A. I then asked if I could search her compartment and her luggage.
Q. Is that how you put it? Are those the words that you used?
A. Yes, ma'am.
Q. And what was her response to that?
A. She said sure.
The officer never entered her compartment until her consent was given. We find the officer's conduct not only legal but most appropriate.
. Hosey suggests that perhaps the Bostick holding relating to the proper standard for determining whether a seizure has occurred is applicable only to those cases in which the encounters are random. We disagree. If a valid consent is obtained, it does not matter if the request was based on a random inquiry or based on suspicion less than probable cause. The issue is not why the request was made but rather whether the consent was freely and voluntarily given.