{"id":145108033,"date":"2009-08-07T11:47:13","date_gmt":"2009-08-07T11:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=145108033"},"modified":"2009-08-07T11:47:13","modified_gmt":"2009-08-07T11:47:13","slug":"when-the-police-can-stop-you-and-your-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=145108033","title":{"rendered":"When the police can stop you and your bike"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is some interest in the community on what rights do cyclists have so this may be of interest:
\nFollowing is a decision from the Florida 2d District Court of Appeal, which is the Tampa area. The short version is that a juvenile was stopped by the police while riding on a bike path. The appellate court decided that the officer lacked sufficient suspicion that the kid had committed a crime, and the trial court should have suppressed the marijuana they found:
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\nJ.C., Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. 2nd District. Case No. 2D08-4415. Opinion filed July 31, 2009. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Michelle Sisco, Judge. Counsel: James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Bruce P. Taylor, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant. Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Helene S. Parnes, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
\n(DAVIS, Judge.) In this juvenile delinquency case, J.C. challenges his adjudication for the delinquent acts of possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. We agree and reverse.
\nThe charges against J.C. stem from an encounter he had with police while he was riding his bicycle on a bike path that runs parallel to a roadway. At the hearing on J.C.’s motion to suppress the physical evidence, the arresting officer testified that upon seeing J.C. riding his bike in \u201ca high crime area,\u201d he and the officer with whom he was riding \u201cpulled along and asked to approach [J.C.].\u201d There is no indication in the record of how J.C. responded. The officer went on to testify that he pulled the car over and \u201cwalked out towards the bike path where [J.C.] was at. We were in front of him. We had our range vests on, badge and made consensual contact with him.\u201d When asked on direct examination what he said to J.C. to make contact with him, the officer testified, \u201cWe just asked him what he was doing.\u201d However, on redirect, when asked, \u201cDid you order him to stop when you saw him,\u201d the officer testified, \u201cI don’t remember exactly what I said to him. I just said, \u2018Hey, I’ve got to talk to you for a minute. Hang on.’ But he could have drove off at any time.\u201d1 Regarding whether J.C.’s way was blocked so that he could not leave, the officer testified on cross-examination, \u201cWe pulled [the car] up a ways in front of him, and we get out of the vehicle and we go to the path.\u201d J.C. did not testify at the suppression hearing.
\nOn appeal, J.C. argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because the officers illegally detained J.C. without the necessary reasonable suspicion by blocking his path of travel and ordering him to \u201chang on.\u201d Although we conclude that the evidence presented below does not support J.C.’s contention that the officers blocked his path, we do agree that the officers illegally detained J.C.
\nWhen reviewing a motion to suppress, the trial court’s factual findings must be affirmed if supported by competent, substantial evidence, Caso v. State, 524 So. 2d 422 (Fla. 1988), while the trial court\u00fes application of the law to those facts is reviewed de novo, Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690 (1996). Here, the trial court made the factual finding that the stop was consensual. This finding, however, is not supported by the facts.
\nThe arresting officer testified that he told J.C., \u201cHey, I’ve got to talk to you for a minute. Hang on.\u201d Considering the totality of the circumstances — that two officers wearing range vests and badges pulled over, exited their car, and while approaching J.C., told him to \u201chang on\u201d — such statement amounts to an order and a show of authority. See Caldwell v. State, 985 So. 2d 602, 606 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) (applying a totality-of-the-circumstances test to the issue of whether law enforcement’s conduct amounted to \u201ca show of authority that would have caused a reasonable person to believe that he was not free to terminate the encounter\u201d).
\n[A] \u201ccitizen encounter becomes an investigatory . . . stop[ ] once an officer shows authority in a manner that restrains the defendant’s freedom of movement such that a reasonable person would feel compelled to comply.\u201d Parsons v. State, 825 So. 2d 406, 408 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). In short, an investigatory stop occurs when a \u201creasonable person would not feel free to leave.\u201d Hrezo v. State, 780 So. 2d 194, 195 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001).
\nRios v. State, 975 So. 2d 488, 490 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007) (second alteration in original).
\nWe conclude that a reasonable person would not feel free to walk away but rather would feel compelled to comply with a police officer’s command, \u201cI’ve got to talk to you for a minute. Hang on.\u201d As such, we conclude that this was an investigatory stop for which reasonable suspicion of the commission of a crime is necessary. See Popple v. State, 626 So. 2d 185, 186 (Fla. 1993) (\u201cThe second level of police-citizen encounters involves an investigatory stop . . . . At this level, a police officer may reasonably detain a citizen temporarily if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime.\u201d). It is undisputed here that the officers had no such suspicion. As such, the stop was illegal.
\nAccordingly, we reverse the trial court’s disposition order and remand with instructions to grant J.C.’s motion to suppress.
\nReversed. (LaROSE and KHOUZAM, JJ., Concur.)
\nhttps:\/\/www.bikeforums.net\/showpost.php?p=9431762&postcount=1<\/a>oldId.20090807114713502<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is some interest in the community on what rights do cyclists have so this may be of interest: Following is a decision from the Florida 2d District Court of Appeal, which is the Tampa area. The short version is that a juvenile was stopped by the police while riding on a bike path. The … <\/p>\n

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