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Towner v. State

Towner v. State, 713 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)
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Court
District Court of Appeal of Florida · State Appellate Courts
Decided
June 5, 1998
Docket
No. 97-3425
Judges
Orfinger
Citations
713 So. 2d 10301998 WL 289688
Cited by 6 3 descriptions by later courts

Opinion

713 So.2d 1030 (1998)

Rogena TOWNER, Appellant,

v.

STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 97-3425.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

June 5, 1998.

James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Brynn Newton, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Maximillian J. Changus, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

ORFINGER, M., Senior Judge.

Appellant pled nolo contendere to a charge of possession of cocaine, reserving the right to appeal the denial of her motion to suppress evidence. We affirm. After a traffic stop, appellant gave the officer permission to search her vehicle and her person. When *1031 the female officer reached into appellant's shirt pocket, appellant placed her hand over the officer's hand, described by the officer as a light touch, but gave no verbal indication she wanted the search stopped. By this time, however, the officer testified she felt an object in the pocket which she immediately recognized by touch as a form of crack cocaine commonly used in the area, based on her experience in the field and prior arrests she had made.

The trial court denied the motion on the ground the consent had not been withdrawn. The determination of whether the consent to search is voluntary is a question for the trial judge and should not be disturbed on appeal unless the determination is clearly erroneous. Davis v. State, 594 So.2d 264 (Fla.1992). Appellant did not grab the officer's hand. Cf. Jimenez v. State, 643 So.2d 70 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). Neither did she say she wanted the officer to stop. In any event, the officer testified she felt the object in the pocket before the hand touched hers, and knew it was "crack." She testified as to her experience and expertise in the field, and appellant did not produce any evidence challenging her qualifications. Thus the search could have been found valid under the "plain feel" doctrine. See State v. Burns, 698 So.2d 1282 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997).

AFFIRMED.

COBB and GOSHORN, JJ., concur.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 3 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

Cited by 6 cases

View all citing references →
2000: 12001: 12005: 12007: 22016: 120002026peak 2007 · 2

Relies on it most ⓘ

  1. Lowery v. State894 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005)
  2. State v. Kindle782 So. 2d 971 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)
  3. Smith v. State753 So. 2d 713 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2000)
  4. P.W. v. State965 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)
  5. PW v. State965 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)
  6. Villanueva v. State198 So. 3d 726 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2016)

Most recent

  1. Villanueva v. State198 So. 3d 726 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2016)
  2. PW v. State965 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)
  3. P.W. v. State965 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)
  4. Lowery v. State894 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005)
  5. State v. Kindle782 So. 2d 971 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)
  6. Smith v. State753 So. 2d 713 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2000)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 3

DepthCaseCited by
Davis v. State, 594 So. 2d 264 (Fla. 1992) 43
Jimenez v. State, 643 So. 2d 70 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994) 17
State v. Burns, 698 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1997) 16

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