K.P. v. State

129 So.3d 1121

K.P., a juvenile, Appellant,

v.The STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 3D12–1925.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

Dec. 26, 2013.

Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Stephen J. Weinbaum, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Natalia Costea, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before SHEPHERD, C.J., and WELLS and LOGUE, JJ.

LOGUE, J.

Based upon an anonymous tip to a gun bounty program that K.P. was carrying a firearm, the assistant principal of his high school took possession of his book bag, removed him from a classroom full of students, and escorted him to the principal's conference room. A search of the book bag revealed a loaded, semi-automatic handgun. K.P. appeals the denial of his motion to suppress the evidence of the firearm, arguing that the search of his book bag violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches.

Admittedly, an anonymous tip like the one at issue may not constitute a sufficiently reliable indicator that a crime was occurring to justify a search of K.P. by police officers on a public street. However, the level of reliability required to justify a search is lower when the tip concerns possession by a student of a firearm in a public school classroom. The Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments require that searches be reasonable in light of all the circumstances. Here, the lower level of reliability reflected in such an anonymous tip is more than offset because (1) a student's expectation of privacy in the school setting is reduced, and (2) the government's interest (protecting the vulnerable population of children assembled within the confines of the school from a firearm) is heightened. We therefore reject K.P.'s arguments and uphold the decision of the court below.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On October 12, 2011, the Miami–Dade County Police Department Gun Bounty Program received an anonymous tip that K.P., a student at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, was possibly in possession of a firearm. After being informed of this tip, a school resource officer, employed by the Miami–Dade County Schools Police Department and assigned to the high school, confirmed that K.P. attended the school after searching for his name in an electronic public school database system. The officer then notified the assistant principal and school security guards of the tip.

The assistant principal and two school security guards went to K.P.'s classroom, took possession of K.P.'s book bag, and escorted K.P. to the principal's conference room. Upon entering the room, the assistant principal handed over the book bag to the school resource officer. The officer opened the book bag and discovered a loaded, semi-automatic handgun.

K.P. was subsequently charged as a juvenile with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a firearm on school grounds, and possession of a firearm by a minor. He moved to exclude the handgun from evidence, arguing that the search of his book bag violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The trial court denied the motion. Following a bench trial, the trial court withheld adjudication and imposed fifteen days in secure detention and one year of probation. This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

A. The Fourth Amendment and Anonymous Tips.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution states, “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” Because the “central inquiry under the Fourth Amendment” is “reasonableness in all the circumstances,” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), no single level of reliability applies in every situation. “Neither a warrant nor probable cause, nor, indeed, any measure of individualized suspicion, is an indispensable component of reasonableness in every circumstance.” Nat'l Treasury Emps. Union v. Von Raab, 489 U.S. 656, 665, 109 S.Ct. 1384, 103 L.Ed.2d 685 (1989). As discussed in this section, a substantial body of law addresses the level of reliability that an anonymous tip must demonstrate in order to justify a search under the Fourth Amendment. In this regard, the level of reliability that an anonymous tip must demonstrate in order to satisfy the Fourth Amendment is lower both when an extraordinary danger is threatened and where legitimate expectations of privacy are reduced.

Anonymous tips, which are more susceptible to abuse than a tip by a known informant, may be less reliable than other investigative leads. Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 270, 120 S.Ct. 1375, 146 L.Ed.2d 254 (2000). The government's interest in conducting a search based upon an anonymous tip, therefore, is usually measured by examining the tip's “indicia of reliability.” Id. Generally, a search based upon an anonymous tip withstands scrutiny under the Fourth Amendment only if the tip contains sufficient details and information that can be independently corroborated by the police to establish a level of reliability regarding the information in the tip. Id. at 270–71, 120 S.Ct. 1375. In the words of a noted jurist and scholar in this area, the anonymous tip must show “that the tipster has some inside knowledge about the suspect, and that the tipster's accusation of illegal activity is entitled to some credence.” Phillip A. Hubbart, Making Sense of Fourth Amendment Law: A Fourth Amendment Handbook 197 (2005).

In the case of Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 332, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990), for example, the Court held that an anonymous tip was sufficient to justify an investigative stop that led to a consensual search of a vehicle which uncovered marijuana. The Court focused on the extensive, predictive details regarding the suspect's appearance, automobile, time of departure, and route included in the tip that allowed the police to test the informant's knowledge and credibility. Id. at 331–32, 110 S.Ct. 2412. When the police were able to verify this information, the Court explained, they had “reason to believe not only that the caller was honest but also that he was well informed, at least well enough to justify the stop.” Id. at 332, 110 S.Ct. 2412.

In contrast, the Court later held an anonymous tip did not provide sufficient corroborating detail to justify an investigative stop and frisk on a public street when the tip consisted entirely of a statement that an African–American youth standing at a certain bus stop wearing a plaid shirt was carrying a gun. J.L., 529 U.S. at 271–72, 120 S.Ct. 1375. The Court held that the tip must be reliable, not only to identifythe suspect, but also to indicate the crime was being committed: “[t]he reasonable suspicion here at issue requires that a tip be reliable in its assertion of illegality, not just in its tendency to identify a determinate person.” Id. at 272, 120 S.Ct. 1375. A tip that does no more than accurately describe a suspect's readily observable location and appearance on a public street is insufficient to pass Fourth Amendment muster because it fails to “show that the tipster has knowledge of concealed criminal activity.” Id.

When weighing the legitimacy of the government's interest to conduct a search based upon the anonymous tip in J.L., the Court focused largely on the reliability of the information used by the officer to decide to initiate the stop and frisk. Id. at 271, 120 S.Ct. 1375. For this reason, the Court in J.L. expressly declined to make “an automatic firearm exception to our established reliability analysis,” whereby a stop and frisk would always be justified by any anonymous tip indicating a person was carrying a firearm. Id. at 272, 120 S.Ct. 1375. “Firearms are dangerous ... [but] the Fourth Amendment is not so easily satisfied.” Id. at 273, 120 S.Ct. 1375.

Nevertheless, it would be wrong to read J.L. as establishing an irreducible minimum of reliability that applies to all anonymous tips in all circumstances, and regardless of the extent of the threat that the tip revealed. Although the Court in J.L. set forth a required level of reliability needed for an anonymous tip to justify a stop and frisk on a public street, the Court was careful to note the Fourth Amendment did not establish a minimum level of reliability required in all circumstances.

In fact, the Court expressly recognized that there may be circumstances justifying “protective searches on the basis of information insufficient to justify searches elsewhere.” Id. at 274, 120 S.Ct. 1375. For example, “extraordinary dangers sometimes justify unusual precautions.” Id. at 272, 120 S.Ct. 1375. In other words, the Court recognized that a search may be justified under the Fourth Amendment based upon an anonymous tip reflecting a lesser level of reliability than the tip in J.L. if the tip concerned a greater danger than possession of a firearm on a public street. The Court noted:

The facts of this case do not require us to speculate about the circumstances under which the danger alleged in an anonymous tip might be so great as to justify a search even without a showing of reliability. We do not say, for example, that a report of a person carrying a bomb need bear the indicia of reliability we demand for a report of a person carrying a firearm before the police can constitutionally conduct a frisk.

Id. at 273–74, 120 S.Ct. 1375.

Under this line of authority, federal and state courts have routinely upheld searches targeting specific individuals based upon anonymous tips containing less indicia of reliability than that involved in J.L. when the government interest was more immediate, substantial, and grave than the interest involved in J.L.¹ Indeed, where the danger is sufficiently substantial, and other factors are met, a search may satisfy the Fourth Amendment even when there is no individualized suspicion.²

In addition, the Court in J.L. explained that...