Opinion ID: 1693745
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Search of Francis's Vehicle

Text: We turn now to the defendant's argument that the State failed to establish probable cause to search Francis's vehicle. Under the constitution of our state, Long has the standing to challenge the seizure of evidence from Francis insofar as it may have adversely affected him. Article I, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution provides: Any person adversely affected by a search or seizure conducted in violation of this section shall have standing to raise its illegality in the appropriate court. Thus, since Long is adversely affected by the seizure of evidence from Francis's vehicle, the grounds for having done so may be put at issue in Long's defense. See State v. Culotta, 343 So.2d 977 (La.1976). Following a Motion to Suppress by Long, the district court excluded the evidence obtained from Francis's vehicle finding insufficient evidence to establish probable cause. In his ruling, the trial judge found that the information provided Officer Smith by the CI plus the mere fact that the Francis vehicle was seen at the Castle Kirk street address was not enough to constitute probable cause for a warrantless search. After a review of the relevant testimony and evidence in this case, we do not find it necessary to make this determination. Rather, we find that the admission of Francis to the officers concerning the presence of marijuana in his vehicle provided them with sufficient probable cause to search his vehicle pursuant to the automobile exception to the warrant requirement. [6] Generally, in order for evidence to be excluded at trial, an illegal search or seizure must have taken place that resulted its discovery. Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961). Applying this to our case, either the custodial arrest of Francis or the search of his vehicle must have taken place on less than probable cause in order for the exclusionary rule to pertain. Since the search of Francis's vehicle occurred subsequent to his informing the officers that he was in possession of marijuana, there must have been a preceding seizure of Francis in order for the subsequent search of his vehicle to be considered to have violated his Fourth Amendment rights. In other words, if Francis was seized when the detectives informed him that he was under investigation and given his Miranda warnings, then there is a question of whether probable cause existed to make such an arrest, and the exclusionary rule may apply to the subsequent search of the vehicle. [7] However, if the seizure was not made until after Francis admitted where the marijuana was located, then the search of his vehicle was made subject to probable cause, and the exclusionary rule does not apply. [8] Thus, we must decide at which point Francis was seized for purposes of state and federal law in order to determine whether the product of the vehicle search may be admitted into evidence. In California v. Hodari D., the United States Supreme Court held that an individual is not seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment until that individual either submits to the police show of authority or is physically contacted by the police. 499 U.S. 621, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991). This Court has expanded this definition to comport with our law, holding that an individual is seized under the Louisiana Constitution when he is either actually stopped or when the actual stop of the individual is imminent. State v. Tucker, 626 So.2d 707 (La.5/24/93); La. Const. Art. 1, § 5. In Tucker, this Court decided that under Louisiana's slightly broader definition of the term, a seizure may occur when the police come upon an individual with such force that, regardless of the individual's attempts to flee or elude the encounter, an actual stop of the individual is virtually certain. 626 So.2d at 712. The U.S. Supreme Court addressed a similar, more relevant, issue in Florida v. Bostick , holding that a seizure does not occur simply because an officer approaches an individual and asks a few questions, as long as a reasonable person would feel free to disregard the police and go about his business. 501 U.S. 429, 111 S.Ct. 2382, 115 L.Ed.2d 389 (1991). In this opinion, the Court stated that even when officers have no basis for suspecting a particular individual of criminal activity, they generally may ask questions of that individual as long as the police do not convey the message that compliance with their requests is required. Id., 501 U.S. at 436, 111 S.Ct. at 2386; State v. Sylvester, 01-607 (La.9/20/02), 826 So.2d 1106. [9] The test for whether a seizure has occurred, then, is whether a reasonable person would feel free to decline the officer's request or otherwise terminate the encounter. Bostick, 501 U.S. at 436, 111 S.Ct. at 2386. In deciding what constitutes a reasonable person, one must look form the viewpoint of an innocent person in his position. Id., 501 U.S. at 438, 111 S.Ct. at 2388. Accordingly, the question that this Court must address in determining at what point a seizure occurred is at what instant would police conduct have communicated to a reasonable, innocent person that he was not free to decline the officer's request or otherwise terminate the encounter. The two officers, after following Francis to his residence, approached him, told him that he was under investigation for the distribution of marijuana, and advised him of his rights. There is no evidence of any physical contact between the two officers and Francis, nor did the officers order Francis to submit to any of their commands. However, they did exercise their rights to ask questions of Francis after specifically communicating to him that he was not required to answer them. When asked by the officers if he was transporting any marijuana, Francis admitted that he had marijuana in the back seat of his automobile. Only then did the officers take Francis into custody and search his vehicle, thereby discovering the three pounds of marijuana packaged in gallon-sized Ziploc bags. Given these facts, based on the relevant federal and state law, we cannot say that the search of Francis's vehicle was the product of an unlawful seizure. When the officers approached the vehicle, a reasonable, innocent person would not believe that he was under arrest. Thus, the admission that Francis had marijuana in his possession was not the fruit of an illegal seizure, but rather it provided the requisite probable cause for the arrest of Francis and search of his vehicle.