Case Name: Howard A. FERRON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1986-06-11
Citations: 489 So. 2d 1213
Docket Number: No. 84-2611
Parties: Howard A. FERRON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: DOWNEY and LETTS, JJ., and HURLEY, DANIEL T.K., Associate Judge, concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 489
Pages: 1213–1213

Head Matter:
Howard A. FERRON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 84-2611.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
June 11, 1986.
Patrick C. Rastatter of Glass, Rastatter & Tarlowe, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Joan Fowler Rossin, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
This cause is affirmed.
One of the questions in this case is whether a defendant's consent to search is automatically revoked when he takes to his heels while being questioned by police officers. That identical question was answered in the affirmative by this court in Nease v. State, 484 So.2d 67 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986).
Notwithstanding, there is no need for reversal here on that point, because the defendant, while running away, committed a battery on a police officer. Needless to say, that battery constituted probable cause for arrest which in turn gave the police probable cause to search the defendant's bag. See Illinois v. LaFayette, 462 U.S. 640, 103 S.Ct. 2605, 77 L.Ed.2d 65 (1983). In addition, when returned to the scene where the original consent was given, the defendant denied ownership of the bag.
AFFIRMED.
DOWNEY and LETTS, JJ., and HURLEY, DANIEL T.K., Associate Judge, concur.