Williams v. State

Full title: ANTONIO BERNARD WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District

Date published: May 12, 1999

738 So. 2d 960 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1999)

Opinion

No. 97-03696.

Opinion filed May 12, 1999.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Jack Espinosa, Jr., Judge.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and William L. Sharwell, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Deborah F. Hogge, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

NORTHCUTT, Judge.

Antonio Williams pleaded nolo contendere to two drug possession charges. He reserved his right to appeal the denial of his dispositive motion to suppress evidence seized by a police officer who stopped Williams's car based on an anonymous tip.

All participants in this appeal — Williams, the State, and this court — are unanimous in the view that the uncorroborated tip did not give rise to a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Therefore, the stop was illegal, and all evidence seized as a result of it should have been excluded.See J.L. v. State, 23 Fla. L. Weekly S626 (Fla. Dec. 17, 1998). Accordingly, we reverse and remand with directions to discharge Williams.

PATTERSON, A.C.J., and BLUE, J., Concur.