Jerry J. Ferreira v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledJuly 24, 2026
Docket6D2023-3200
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
Case No. 6D2023-3200
Lower Tribunal No. 23-CT-500447
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JERRY J. FERREIRA,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
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Appeal from the County Court for Lee County.
Tara P. Paluck, Judge.
July 24, 2026
KAMOUTSAS, J.
After the denial of Appellantโs motion to suppress a traffic stop that led to his
arrest and conviction for Driving While Under the Influence, Appellant entered into
a no contest plea and sought to reserve his right to appeal the ruling on the
suppression motion. However, the State did not stipulate that the suppression order
was dispositive, nor did the trial court make such a finding. See generally Fla. R.
App. Pro. 9.140(2)(a)(i) (โA defendant may not appeal from a guilty or nolo
contendere plea except as follows: . . . (i) Reservation of Right to Appeal. A
defendant who pleads guilty or nolo contendere may expressly reserve the right to
appeal a prior dispositive order of the lower tribunal, identifying with particularity
the point of law being reserved.โ). Although neither a ruling nor stipulation was
secured as to the dispositive nature of the motion to suppress, since Appellant was
charged with DUI, considering the facts of this case, the motion to suppress the stop
was necessarily dispositive. See generally Hawk v. State, 848 So. 2d 475, 478 (5th
DCA 2003) (โIn the instant case, the State did not stipulate the suppression order
was dispositive, and the trial court made no such finding. Regardless . . . under the
facts of this case this court would not have held the lack of a finding of
dispositiveness against Appellant.โ). Having found no error in the denial of the
motion to suppress, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
MIZE and BROWNLEE, JJ., concur.
Blair Allen, Public Defender, and Joanna Beth Conner, Assistant Public Defender,
Bartow, for Appellant.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Helene S. Parnes, Senior
Assistant Attorney General, and James Hellickson, Assistant Attorney General,
Tampa, for Appellee.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING
AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED
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