WILLIAM MANSFIELD AND MIGUEL DEL TORO, APPELLANTS,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1980-10-14
No. 79-1948
Before HUBBART, C. J., and SCHWARTZ and BASKIN, JJ.
389 So. 2d 292 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1980) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Defendants Mansfield and Del Toro were convicted of marijuana possession with intent to sell after a warrantless search of a vehicle's trunk. The court upheld the search under the moving vehicle exception to the warrant requirement and found that Del Toro lacked standing to challenge the search because he had no legitimate expectation of privacy in a vehicle he neither owned nor occupied.


Holding

The court held that Del Toro lacked standing to challenge the search because he had no legitimate expectation of privacy in packages placed in a vehicle he neither owned nor occupied. The court further held that the warrantless search was valid under the moving vehicle exception because officers had probable cause based on observing large bales wrapped in plastic and burlap being placed in the trunk, enhanced by knowledge of the earlier arrest of Fox and Alexander from the same residence.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant lacks standing to challenge the search of a vehicle if they neither owned nor rode as a passenger in the vehicle.

[2] Probable cause to believe a vehicle contains contraband exists when officers observe readily recognizable contraband being placed into its trunk.

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Key Quotes

“We hold that defendant Del Toro had no legitimate expectation of privacy in the packages placed inside the trunk of Mansfield's automobile as he neither owned nor rode as a passenger in the vehicle.”

Establishes the court's holding on standing—Del Toro cannot challenge the search because he lacked Fourth Amendment protection in someone else's vehicle.

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Facts & Procedural History

Officers conducting surveillance of a residence observed Mansfield leave the residence, enter a vehicle, and receive packages from Del Toro that appea…

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Opinion of the Court
BASKIN, Judge.

BASKIN, Judge.

Defendants Mansfield and Del Toro were each convicted of and sentenced for possession with intent to sell marijuana and unlawful possession of marijuana upon entry of pleas of no contest with a reservation of their rights to appeal. The trial court denied their motions to suppress the marijuana retrieved without a warrant from the locked trunk of an automobile. The issues before this court are the validity of the warrantless search and seizure and defendant Del Toro’s standing to challenge the search and seizure.

While engaged in surveillance of a residence, Officer Green observed defendant Mansfield leave the residence, enter a vehicle, and drive it to the front door. From the doorway of the residence, defendant Del Toro handed packages which looked like “large objects like sacks” to Mansfield. Officer Green called for another officer, who saw Del Toro hand Mansfield what the officer thought was marijuana.

The officers stopped Mansfield as he drove from the residence and arrested him. They obtained the keys to the locked trunk and seized the contraband. Officer Green then returned to the residence and arrested defendant Del Toro.

Earlier that day, Officer Green had observed another vehicle at the residence and had seen two packages and a briefcase placed in its trunk. When that vehicle was stopped, marijuana was discovered, leading to the arrest of two people, Fox and Alexander. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the trial court ruled that both defendants lacked standing to challenge the search of Fox and Alexander, and that Del Toro lacked standing to challenge the search of the vehicle Mansfield had been driving. The court held, in addition, that the search and seizure of the packages from the trunk of the Mansfield vehicle was sustainable under the “moving vehicle” exception to the search warrant requirement. We affirm.

We hold that defendant Del Toro had no legitimate expectation of privacy in the packages placed inside the trunk of Mansfield’s automobile as he neither owned nor rode as a passenger in the vehicle. United States v. Salvucci, - U.S. -, 100 S.Ct. 2547, 65 L.Ed.2d 619 (1980); Rawlings v. Kentucky, - U.S. -, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980); Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978); Norman v. State, 388 So. 2d 613 (Fla.3d DCA 1980).

In addition, we hold that the officers had probable cause to believe the vehicle contained marijuana when they observed readily recognizable large bales wrapped in plastic and burlap being placed into its trunk. The circumstances giving rise to probable cause were enhanced by the officers’ knowledge of the arrest of Fox and Alexander for the possession of marijuana obtained from the same residence earlier that day. Under the exigent circumstances consistent with the departure of the automobile, the officers were not required to obtain a search warrant. Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 43, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419 (1969); Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925). Since no evidence indicates the bales were opened, it is not necessary for us to consider cases discussing the requirement of obtaining a search warrant prior to opening the bales. Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753, 99 S.Ct. 2586, 61 L.Ed.2d 235 (1979); United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977). On the other hand, if we infer from the evidence that the bales were opened, we decide that Chadwick does not require a search warrant under the circumstances of this case. We agree that neither defendant had standing to challenge the search and seizure of Fox and Alexander. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the trial court correctly denied defendants’ motions to suppress, and we affirm the convictions and sentences entered by the trial court.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Kuhn v. State, 439 So. 2d 291 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
    …contained marijuana, and were therefore justified in stopping and searching the defendant’s truck. Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949); State v. Gillum, 428 So. 2d 755 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Mansfield v. State, 389 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Cameron v. State, 112 So. 2d 864, 873 (Fla. 1st DCA 1959). All else follows from the above probable cause showing. The police were thereafter justified in searching the briefcase seized from the subject truck under the Carroll…

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