BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU PARK

In the past we have provided some practical advice you can use to minimize the chances you will be confronted by law enforcement. Today we are giving you a parking tip for that same reason. These are not the more obvious ones: parking behind a closed business at 3 a.m. with your lights off or other similarly sketchy scenarios.

         Put yourself in Timothy Hickman’s shoes. He was a passenger in a car driven by a female (no indication of the relationship). They were parked, backed in at the dead end of a two-lane unmarked street, adjacent to a vacant lot and next to a no parking sign. A citizen called the police to report this and express the concern that the car was “casing” the neighborhood. When the responding officer approached the car, the driver lowered her window.

         At that point the officer saw drugs and drug paraphernalia in open view. A subsequent search incident to the arrest revealed drugs in a backpack at Hickman’s feet.

         Mr. Hickman’s defense counsel filed a motion to suppress the drugs found in Hickman’s backpack. The trial judge granted the motion saying that “no clear evidence showed that there was a parking violation.” As an alternate basis for granting the motion, the judge held that the parking violation did not “motivate” the officer to approach the car.

         The State appealed the ruling, and the Court of Appeal reversed the trial judge. The appellate court’s opinion noted that there was plenty of evidence to show the car was parked in a no parking zone: the officer’s testimony; a picture of the sign; dash cam footage from the patrol car showing the car’s proximity to the sign. In fact, defense counsel even finally conceded that the car was parked in a no parking zone.

         The more important part of the opinion deals with the trial court’s ruling that it was not the parking violation that motivated the officer to approach the car. The appellate court reiterated Florida law in this regard. A traffic stop is a seizure for purposes of the Fourth Amendment. The stop is reasonable under that Amendment if the officer has probable cause to believe a traffic violation has occurred. The test is purely objective. The question is “Was there a traffic violation?”   The officer’s subjective motivation, suspicion, hunch or even animosity towards you does not matter. As the court so succinctly put it:

                 Here, probable cause existed for the stop because Tomkin’s car was parked illegally. The officer did not, therefore, violate Hickman’s Fourth Amendment rights. Hickman at 219.

         The lesson to be learned: do not make yourself an easy target for law enforcement. If Mr. Hickman and his companion followed that advice, he would not be serving twenty years in prison. You may read about Mr. Hickman’s case at 363 So.3d 217 (Fla. 6^th DCA 2023).

         If you find yourself facing criminal charges your personal liberty is at stake. Call the Kessler Law Firm for experienced, professional and assertive representation. Given the stakes, you should settle for nothing less.