State of Florida v. J. J. T.
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledMay 8, 2020
Docket2D19-2008
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. ) Case No. 2D19-2008
)
J.J.T., )
)
Appellee. )
)
Opinion filed May 8, 2020.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for
Hillsborough County; Michael J. Scionti,
Judge.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General,
Tallahassee, and C. Todd Chapman,
Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for
Appellant.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender,
and Carly J. Robbins-Gilbert, Assistant
Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellee.
PER CURIAM.
In this delinquency case involving a charge of possession of more than
twenty grams of marijuana, the State appeals from orders granting J.J.T.'s motions to
suppress evidence of marijuana found in his backpack at school and his subsequent
post-Miranda1 incriminating statements. The trial court correctly suppressed the
evidence of marijuana in J.J.T.'s backpack because the school's vice principal lacked
reasonable suspicion to seize the backpack, and we affirm that order. See R.S.M. v.
State, 911 So. 2d 283, 284 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (explaining that "the standard for a
search and seizure by a school official is one of reasonable suspicion"). Although we
disagree with the trial court's conclusion that J.J.T. did not knowingly and voluntarily
waive his Miranda rights,2 we nonetheless affirm the order suppressing his incriminating
statements made to police after the vice principal found the marijuana because they
were the fruit of the illegal seizure. See, e.g., J.R. v. State, 149 So. 3d 1196, 1198 (Fla.
4th DCA 2014) (reversing order denying a motion to suppress where the police lacked
reasonable suspicion to stop and pat down a juvenile and holding that "the trial court
should have suppressed the marijuana and incriminating statements resulting from the
unlawful search and seizure as 'fruit of the poisonous tree' " (quoting Wong Sun v.
United States, 371 U.S. 471, 487-88 (1963))).
Affirmed.
MORRIS, SALARIO, and ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, JJ., Concur.
1See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).
2See State v. Herrera, 201 So. 3d 192, 197-201 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)
(reversing order suppressing a juvenile confession in a case involving interrogation
techniques more aggressive than those employed here).
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