FL2: 2 am knock-and-talk of motel room with “badgered” occupant was unreasonable

A knock-and-talk on a motel room in the early morning hours was unreasonable. The defendant consented to a fruitless search of the room and his car. Defendant’s girlfriend, under the covers naked, who did not speak English so a translator was procured, was “badgered” into further consent because she “didn’t want trouble,” and she produced drugs from under the covers. Hardin v. State, 18 So. 3d 1246 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009):

Despite the fruitless searches of the car and motel room, the deputies badgered Ms. Sierra, telling her that they knew she had drugs. They promised not to charge her if she cooperated. Ms. Sierra responded that she wanted no trouble. The deputies continued to badger her. Ms. Sierra relented and handed them a purse containing cocaine from under the sheets. The male deputies then left the room while Ms. Sierra dressed. In the parking lot, Mr. Hardin shouted that the drugs were his. He was arrested.

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The deputies initiated the “knock and talk” encounter in the early morning hours. Although not dispositive, the lateness of the hour “add[s] to the intimidating circumstance[s]” faced by Mr. Hardin and his wife. See Kutzorik, 891 So. 2d at 648.

The number of deputies who descended on the motel room suggests that Ms. Sierra acquiesced to law enforcement authority. See Miller, 865 So. 2d at 588 (holding that the presence of three officers in uniform was a considerable show of authority sufficient to create the perception that a major criminal investigation was underway). In Kutzorik, the presence of three uniformed police officers in the defendant’s small trailer implied coercion. 891 So. 2d at 648. Here, Mr. Hardin’s motel room was not very big or spacious. See Royer v. State, 389 So. 2d 1007, 1018 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979) (holding that being in a small enclosed area confronted by two police officers presents an almost classic definition of imprisonment), aff’d, 460 U.S. 491 (1983).

When Ms. Sierra handed over the contraband, three deputies were in the room; Mr. Hardin remained outside with a K-9 officer. That two of the deputies in the room were men makes it even more likely that the naked Ms. Sierra was intimidated by the show of authority. See Malinski v. New York, 324 U.S. 401, 407 (1945) (holding that questioning defendant in a hotel room with only a blanket covering him was a tactic of humiliation and the subsequent consent invalid).

Defendant’s arguments about lack of PC for his arrest and search of his car are essentially hypertechnical arguments about what the officers did and did not do. Because PC is not defined by a “neat set of legal rules,” the officers did not have to credit defendant’s denial of involvement when questioned nor question him further before arresting him. United States v. Sain, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93786 (W.D. Tenn. October 7, 2009).*