3RD DCA ROUNDUP -JUST OUT FOR A STROLL EDITION

The 3rd DCA goes for a stroll this week. Come along.....

In MR v State, the 3rd, along with its resident health enthusiast- Judge Schwartz- affirms the long standing principle that it is just nice sometimes to take a walk, even if you happen to be doing it in an area known for prostitution and even if the person strolling is known to the officer has having engaged in the world's oldest profession in the past.

"The conduct of the appellant juvenile, a sixteen-year-old female, which consisted only of walking down the street in a “high prostitution area” at 9:30 in the evening, did not give rise to the founded or articulable suspicion of unlawful activity necessary to justify the Terry stop effected by the police when, after engaging in a consensual and uneventful conversation, they placed her in their patrol car pending a “record search.” "

We're going to assume that "uneventful conversation" is the type familiar to most men who attempt to strike up a chat with a woman, when the man is seeking one thing, and the woman another. At least that's been our experience way too many times to remember.

"The fact that M.R. was known to one of the officers as having been involved in prostitution on a previous occasion does not affect the issue of whether her conduct at the time of the arrest justified the stop. See Parsons v. State, 825 So. 2d 406 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); Smith v. State, 592 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Johnson v. State, 610 So. 2d 581 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)."

Judge Langer takes the hit on the reversal, while kudos go out to the PDs office and Lisa M. Pisciotta, Ross C. Paolino and Nicolas Swerdloff as special assistant public defenders.

Meanwhile, in a decision sure to upset all of you Ferris Bueller fans, being late to class is now a crime (if you push a teacher on the way in).

See W.M. v. State,

W.M., who was late for class, pushed aside a teacher who was blocking a doorway to prevent his entry into a classroom, after repeatedly having been denied entry and told to report to the behavior management teacher’s office, was sufficient to survive his motion for dismissal on this charge. See S.D. v. State, 882 So. 2d 447, 448 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) (“Intent to commit a battery must be determined by the circumstances surrounding the touching or striking of the victim.”); see also Beasely v. State, 774 So. 2d 649, 657 (Fla. 2000) (confirming that on a motion for judgment of acquittal, all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the State);

So to summarize, walking is good, but running while being late for class may be bad. Talking is fine (even to a provocative young lass) but putting her in your car after an uneventful conversation is bad, especially if you're a police officer.