540 So. 2d 934 | Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | 1989
Appellant seeks review of a February 5, 1988 order entered pursuant to his nolo contendere plea in the circuit court for Es-cambia County, by which the court withheld adjudication of guilt on a possession of cocaine charge and placed him on probation for five years. We affirm, finding no reversible error in the denial of motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to an arrest.
Appellant was arrested after a deputy sheriff noticed there was an expired license
Following the initial lawful stop of the car in this case (Kehoe v. State, 521 So.2d 1094 (Fla.1988); Bascoy v. State, 424 So.2d 80 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)), the first search did not reveal contraband and is not of critical significance to our review. The officer then arrested appellant on the basis of the outstanding warrant, and a search was conducted subsequent to the arrest. The warrant for appellant’s arrest had been issued after appellant failed to respond to requests for payment of a fine. Because there was no police misconduct shown, no stipulation by the parties that the information received by radio was erroneous, and a warrant for appellant’s arrest had been duly issued, the arrest would not appear to have been improper. The ensuing search was therefore justifiable as subsequent to the arrest. McCray v. State, 496 So.2d 919 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); cf., Albo v. State, 477 So.2d 1071 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985).
Appellant also relies upon section 901.16, Florida Statutes (1987), which provides:
A peace officer making an arrest by a warrant shall inform the person to be arrested of the cause of arrest and that a warrant has been issued, except when the person fleas or forcibly resists before the officer has an opportunity to inform him, or when giving the information will imperil the arrest, (emphasis supplied)
Decisions in Florida and in other jurisdictions indicate a standard of substantial compliance with arrest statutes such as section 901.16. City of Miami v. Nelson, 186 So.2d 535 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966), cert. denied 194 So.2d 621 (Fla.1966) (fact that a person to be arrested is not informed of the cause of the arrest until subsequent thereto does not necessarily deprive him of his rights); United States v. Robinson, 325 F.2d 391 (2d Cir.1963) (substantial compliance test, eschewing a “ritualistic” approach); Holt v. State, 357 P.2d 574 (Okl.Cr.1960), cert. denied 366 U.S. 716, 81 S.Ct. 1659, 6 L.Ed.2d 846 (1961) (mere failure of an officer to expressly inform of cause of arrest will not render arrest illegal where a person arrested knew officer and knew he was acting in official capacity); People v. Maddox, 46 Cal.2d 301, 294 P.2d 6 (1956), cert. denied 352 U.S. 858, 77 S.Ct. 81, 1 L.Ed.2d 65 (1956) (failure to inform of cause of arrest is unrelated and collateral to the securing of evidence incident to the arrest).
In this case, appellant was informed that there was a warrant outstanding for his arrest, and the officer did not then know the specific “cause” for the warrant. There was compliance with the provision of section 901.16 which requires the officer to inform the person being arrested that a
Affirmed.