Tampa criminal court case results
- did probationer give voluntary consent to Tampa Police
- facts: Our client (defendant) was on probation for a number of theft related offenses when he was stopped by the Tampa Police Department at a local gas station. He made a lot of progress while on probation, but made the mistake of continuing to spend time with old friends that continued to deal drugs. One night he was out with one of these friends in his father's van when he noticed he was being followed by Tampa Police. The Tampa Police Department's QUAD SQUAD (Tampa's undercover drug prevention unit) was conducting surveillance on our client's friend. Before police could stop the van, our client dropped off his friend. He continued driving and eventually stopped at a local gas station. Undercover police followed him to the gas station and confronted him while he was pumping gas. Initially, they asked him for his name and ran his information. They came back to the van and told the client, "Do you know that you are a convicted felon?". He said yes, and then police attempted to get permission to search the van. When the van was searched the police found drugs under one of the seats in the van. The client was arrested on the new drug charge, and when he got to jail he was taken into custody for violating his probation.
- defense: Our defense was two-fold. First, there was a question as to whether the consent given to Tampa Police was voluntary under the circumstances. When police confronted the defendant, they intentionally made him aware that he was a felon, (implying that he had to give them permission to search, or that his right to object to the search was limited) before asking him whether they could search his vehicle. Secondly, the client was driving his father's van, that was occupied by two people before he dropped off his friend. If you are alone in your own vehicle when police discover drugs, there is a presumption that you, as the owner of your vehicle, must have knowledge of the presence of the drugs. Here, the State could not prove that our client knew of the drugs in the vehicle or had the ability to exercise control over the drugs.
- results: After our client was arrested we immediately filed a motion for bond on the violation of probation. We notified the Court of the problems with the State's case, and he agreed to release the client while we filed a motion to suppress. The client was facing his 4th Violation of Probation when he received this new drug charge. If the charge had stuck he was facing prison. The new drug charge was "no filed" (dismissed) by the state attorney's office, and the violation of probation was dismissed by the court.
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