In A.B.S. v. State, 51 So.3d 1181 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2010), the juvenile was stopped and handcuffed by police based upon their belief that he may be a runaway in need of transport back home. Before placing A.B.S. into the back of the police car, officers searched the juvenile. During the search, the officer found a set of keys, and attached was a small aluminum screw-top container. The officer shook the container and suspected it contained illegal pills inside. The officer opened it, discovering drugs, he arrested A.B.S. for possession of a controlled substance.
A.B.S.’s attorney filed a motion to suppress the drugs based upon an illegal search, but the trial court denied the motion. The Second DCA overturned the conviction, holding that the officer “did not have a legal basis to search A.B.S.’s person before transporting him in his cruiser.” Id. Basically, taking a juvenile into custody in order to return him home does not constitute a crime whereby an officer can search incident to an arrest. Id. A police car is not some sort of constitutionally sacred space that requires a search prior to entry. The court further reasoned that “in this case the officer had no indication that A.B.S. was in possession of either a weapon or contraband when he searched A.B.S.” Id. Fortunately, our constitution and the Florida courts have set some boundaries on police searches. Don’t you feel safer now?