FL Supreme Court allows police to force drivers out of car for K-9 search
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A recent ruling from the highest court in Florida introduces new guidance for officers during traffic stops in the Sunshine State.
Weighing a certified question regarding conflicting District Court of Appeal rulings, the Florida Supreme Court has determined that K-9 units can order a suspect to exit a vehicle during a drug sweep.
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The 5-to-1 ruling, issued May 23, comes in a case called Florida vs. Joshua Lyle Creller. Writing for the majority, Justice Renatha Francis noted that it is well-settled that police, for their own protection, can issue an exit command to a motorist during a lawful traffic stop.
"At issue here, Francis wrote, is whether the same rule applies to K-9 officers who arrive midway through a traffic stop," Florida Bar News senior editor Jim Ash explained in a podcast news brief. "The Second District Court of Appeals, in overturning Creller's conviction, said, 'No,' and certified a conflict with the Fifth District Court of Appeals ruling in a case called State vs. Benjamin.
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The ruling stems from a 2018 traffic stop that a narcotics officer asked uniformed Tampa Police to make after the narcotics officer witnessed Creller cut through a parking lot to avoid a red light. Creller refused both officers' requests to search his vehicle.
A K-9 unit arrived while a ticket was still being written, and Creller continued to refuse to exit the vehicle. He ultimately faced drug and resisting arrest charges when he was forced from the vehicle and found to be carrying methamphetamine.
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Justices conducted a lengthy analysis of the DCA rulings and a 1968 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, US v. Rodriguez, and a 1977 US. Supreme Court case called Pennsylvania v. Mimms which dealt with traffic stops and exit commands.
"The Florida Justices determined that the Second District Court of Appeal erred in its interpretation and that the Fifth District Court of Appeal ruling in Benjamin was correct. The majority concluded that in these situations, officer safety outweighs the temporary inconvenience of exiting a vehicle," Ash explained.
In his lone dissent, Justice Jorge Labarga noted that while there was probable cause to stop Creller for a traffic violation, there was nothing to justify a drug search.
"Ordering a suspect to exit the vehicle isn't innocuous," Labarga noted, "when any passerby could make a video of the scene available to the world."