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Dey v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District
Nov 9, 2007
967 So. 2d 1070 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)

Summary

reversing and remanding for reconsideration of motion to suppress based on change in law regarding the validity of the traffic stop

Summary of this case from Murphy v. State

Opinion

No. 2D07-294.

November 9, 2007.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Polk County, Donald G. Jacobsen, J.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Paul C. Helm, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Cerese Crawford Taylor, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.


David Dey appeals from a final order of probation that was entered after he pleaded no contest to possession of cocaine and reserved his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. In this motion, Dey challenged the validity of his traffic stop. Dey was stopped by police because the windshield of the vehicle he was driving was cracked, according to the officer who testified at the suppression hearing. Drugs were found in the vehicle. The trial court denied Dey's motion to suppress, relying on Hilton v. State, 901 So.2d 155, 157 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (en banc) (designated as Hilton II by the supreme court), in which this court held that "an officer may stop a vehicle with a visibly cracked windshield regardless of whether the crack creates any immediate hazard."

Subsequent to the hearing, however, the Florida Supreme Court in Hilton v. State, 961 So.2d 284 (Fla. 2007) ( Hilton III), quashed this court's decision in Hilton II, concluding that

the provision of section 316.610 which authorizes vehicle stops for equipment that is `not in proper adjustment or repair,' § 316.610(1), Fla. Stat. (2001), does not encompass windshield cracks. Thus, a stop for a cracked windshield is permissible only where an officer reasonably believes that the crack renders the vehicle `in such unsafe condition as to endanger any person or property.' § 316.610, Fla. Stat. (2001).

961 So.2d at 292. Because the law that governs the validity of the stop has changed, we reverse and remand for the trial court to reconsider Dey's motion to suppress and, if necessary, to conduct a new evidentiary hearing. See Wheeler v. State, 344 So.2d 244, 245 (Fla. 1977) ("The decisional law in effect at the time an appeal is decided governs the issues raised on appeal, even where there has been a change of law since the time of trial.").

Reversed and remanded, with instructions.

CASANUEVA and KELLY, JJ., Concur.


Summaries of

Dey v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District
Nov 9, 2007
967 So. 2d 1070 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)

reversing and remanding for reconsideration of motion to suppress based on change in law regarding the validity of the traffic stop

Summary of this case from Murphy v. State
Case details for

Dey v. State

Case Details

Full title:David Carlton DEY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District

Date published: Nov 9, 2007

Citations

967 So. 2d 1070 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)

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