DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
JEAN CHERY,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D19-2444
September 17, 2021
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Polk County; William D. Sites,
Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Karla D. Ellis, Special
Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Linsey Sims-
Bohnenstiehl, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
SLEET, Judge.
Jean Chery challenges his convictions and sentences for two
counts of trafficking in cocaine and one count each of trafficking in
amphetamine, possession of oxycodone, possession of cannabis,
and maintaining a structure to keep or sell controlled substances.
Police obtained evidence to support these charges in a search of
Chery's residence conducted pursuant to a search warrant.
Because the affidavit in support of the search warrant application is
insufficient to establish probable cause, the trial court erred in
denying Chery's motion to suppress the evidence. Accordingly, we
reverse his convictions and sentences.
The affidavit in support of the search warrant application
states the following:
On 8/4/16, I [the affiant detective] received a phone
call from Casie Aguilera stating that "JJ" contacted her
and asked her to meet at the Auburndale Walmart
parking lot located at 2120 U.S. Highway 92 Auburndale,
Florida 33823. Aguilera stated that upon making contact
with JJ, he proceeded to place two duffle bags in the
trunk of her Dodge Charger. Aguilera contacted me and
stated she was not aware of what the duffle bags
contained but wanted law enforcement to take
possession of the bags. [A second detective] responded to
Aguilera's residence located at 1148 Taylor Street
Auburndale, Florida 33823 and took possession of the
two duffle bags. [That detective] located multiple
kilograms of methamphetamine and cocaine inside of the
two duffle bags. While [that detective] was at the
residence Casie Aguilera stated that Hector Aguilera Jr.
contacted her via phone and wanted to take possession of
the two duffle bags that contain the narcotics. At a later
time on this same day Hector Aguilera Jr. was placed
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under arrest at the residence located at 1148 Taylor
Street Auburndale, Florida in reference to an active Polk
County warrant.
Hector Aguilera stated that he would cooperate with
law enforcement and could provide information in
reference to JJ. I showed Hector Aguilera a Polk County
Sheriff's Office jail database photograph of "JJ" and he
positively identified JJ as Jean Fontal Chery Jr. Hector
Aguilera provided a recorded statement to law
enforcement stating that he met Chery on this morning
(8/4/16) at the Walmart parking lot located in
Auburndale, Florida. Hector Aguilera stated Chery drove
him to Chery's residence which was later positively
identified by Aguilera to be [address redacted] (place to be
searched).
Hector Aguilera stated the place to be searched is a
brown in color brick apartment which is a two-bedroom
apartment with one bathroom. Hector Aguilera stated
that Chery sleeps in the front bedroom and Chery's
mother sleeps in the back bedroom which is the furthest
away from the front door.
Hector Aguilera stated that Chery advised him that
he had a lot of work and it was time for him to get on his
feet. Hector Aguilera stated that work is a street slang
term for narcotics. Hector Aguilera stated that Chery
advised him that he was aware of Hector Aguilera Sr
being placed under arrest. Hector Aguilera stated that
Chery was nervous about the situation and wanted to
smoke cannabis. Hector Aguilera stated that Chery
advised him that Hector Aguilera Sr. delivered two duffle
bags that contained a large quantity of
methamphetamine and cocaine. Hector Aguilera stated
that Chery showed him the two duffle bags that were
located in a closet. Hector Aguilera stated that he did not
feel comfortable being at the place to be searched after
learning about the two duffle bags.
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Hector Aguilera stated that he observed
approximately five to seven ounces of cocaine and
methamphetamine in Chery's bedroom which were in
individual plastic bags. Hector Aguilera stated that he is
aware of how much an ounce of methamphetamine and
cocaine looks like. Hector Aguilera stated that Chery
stated that Hector Aguilera Sr [sic] delivered him nine
ounces of methamphetamine and cocaine at the
beginning of the month of August. Hector Aguilera stated
that Chery advised him that he is purchasing the ounces
for $800 but is selling the ounces for $950. Hector
Aguilera stated that Chery offered to sell him
methamphetamine.
A Florida Driver's and Vehicle Information Database
query was conducted and the address listed on Chery's
driver's license is [address redacted]. The address has
been listed as Chery's address since 10/05/2011.
On appeal, Chery argues that there are no facts in the affidavit
to establish that the affiant had personal knowledge of the
reliability of the informant, Aguilera Jr., and that the affidavit did
not contain sufficient information to independently corroborate the
information supplied by Aguilera Jr. We agree.
Under the totality of the circumstances test, the proper
analysis [for determining whether an affidavit provides
the necessary probable cause to support issuance of a
search warrant] is whether, given all the circumstances
set forth in the affidavit, "there is a fair probability that
contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a
particular place."
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State v. Loredo,
129 So. 3d 1188, 1191 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014) (quoting
Illinois v. Gates,
462 U.S. 213, 238 (1983)). "The affidavit must
state that the affiant has personal knowledge of the confidential
informant's veracity or the affidavit must contain sufficient
independent corroborating evidence."
Id. (quoting Pagan v. State,
830 So. 2d 792, 806 (Fla. 2002)). Nothing in the affidavit in this
case indicates that the affiant had personal knowledge of Aguilera
Jr.'s reliability or veracity. As such, we must determine whether
the affidavit contains sufficient corroborating evidence to establish
a fair probability that evidence of a crime would be found at the
place to be searched. See Castro v. State,
224 So. 3d 281, 286 (Fla.
2d DCA 2017) ("In considering the totality of the circumstances,
when evidence of the tipster's veracity and reliability is lacking,
there must be sufficient independent corroborating evidence."). We
conclude that the affidavit here lacks sufficient corroboration.
Besides information obtained from Aguilera Jr., the affidavit
relies on information and physical evidence obtained from Casie
Aguilera. Although this court has held that "the credibility of one
informant can be bolstered by information given by another
informant," Loredo, 129 So. 3d at 1192, none of the information
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provided by Casie Aguilera concerned Chery's residence. Although
she had met Chery at Wal-Mart and received drugs from him there,
nothing in the affidavit suggests that she had been to Chery's
residence or that she even knew where it was. As such, there was
nothing about Casie Aguilera's statements to police that would
corroborate Aguilera Jr.'s claim that contraband would be found in
Chery's residence.
Additionally, there was no independent investigation on the
part of police to corroborate that claim. Police did search a driver's
license database and confirmed that the address Aguilera Jr.
provided as Chery's residence had been listed as Chery's address on
his driver's license since 2011. But such information only
corroborated Aguilera Jr.'s claim that he knew where Chery lives; it
did not corroborate his claim that drugs could be found at that
residence. See Castro, 224 So. 3d at 287 ("Further, no police
surveillance of Castro's residence corroborated the vague tip that
methamphetamine was in the residence."); cf. Loredo, 129 So. 3d at
1192 ("[S]urveillance . . . conducted less than a week before the
warrant was signed [as] part of [a] two-week period of surveillance
. . . show[ed] activity consistent with drug traffic[king,]
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corroborat[ing] the information provided by [the confidential
informants]. The surveillance, along with [the resident's] criminal
history, corroborates the detailed information from two different
informants to support a reasonable probability that contraband
would be present when the search warrant was executed."). The
affidavit does not establish that the police did any independent
surveillance of either Chery or his residence. And the affidavit does
not address any criminal history of Chery's, let alone one involving
narcotic sales. See Castro, 224 So. 3d at 287 ("[T]he affidavit
mentioned that Castro had four prior arrests since 1999, but the
affidavit did not indicate that he had a criminal history for drug
offenses.").
The State maintains that even if this court determines that the
search warrant affidavit lacks personal knowledge of Aguilera Jr.'s
reliability and corroborating evidence of his claim that contraband
was present in Chery's apartment, the good faith exception to the
exclusionary rule applies, making the denial of Chery's motion to
suppress proper. We disagree.
As explained in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 920
(1984), the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies
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where "an officer acting with objective good faith has obtained a
search warrant from a judge or magistrate and acted within its
scope." However, "the officer's reliance on the magistrate's
probable-cause determination and on the technical sufficiency of
the warrant he issues must be objectively reasonable, and it is clear
that in some circumstances the officer will have no reasonable
grounds for believing that the warrant was properly issued."
Id. at
922-23 (citation omitted) (footnotes omitted).
Here, the affidavit in support of the warrant lacked any indicia
of reliability and corroboration. As such, reliance on it as proper
support for a search warrant was not objectively reasonable, and
the good faith exception is inapplicable. See Sanchez v. State,
141
So. 3d 1281, 1287 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014) (holding that the good faith
exception was inapplicable where "an objectively reasonable officer
would have known that the affidavit was insufficient to establish
probable cause for the search" (quoting Gonzalez v. State,
38 So. 3d
226, 230 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010))); Garcia v. State,
872 So. 2d 326, 330
(Fla. 2d DCA 2004) ("Where, as here, the supporting affidavit fails to
establish probable cause to justify a search, Florida courts refuse to
apply the good faith exception.").
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Because the affidavit in support of the search warrant failed to
establish that the affiant had personal knowledge of the informant's
reliability and veracity and because the affidavit lacked any
corroboration of the informant's claims, the search warrant was
issued in error. As such, the fruits of the search should have been
excluded. Accordingly, we reverse Chery's convictions and
sentences.
Reversed.
KHOUZAM and LABRIT, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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