ELLIOTT DAVID DANIELS v. STATE OF FLORIDA


DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT ELLIOTT DAVID DANIELS, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. No. 2D21-702 September 9, 2022 Appeal from the County Court for Sarasota County; Erika N. Quartermaine, Judge. Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Daniel Muller, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Laurie Benoit- Knox, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. Elliott David Daniels appeals a final judgment and sentences for a misdemeanor count of DUI pursuant to section 316.193, Florida Statutes (2019), and a misdemeanor count of refusal to submit to testing pursuant to section 316.1939(1). We conclude that the trial court did not err in finding that the law enforcement officers who initially interacted with Daniels had reasonable suspicion to conduct a DUI investigation and, therefore, that the trial court properly denied Daniels' motion to suppress. However, while we affirm Daniels' judgment and sentences, we write to explain our reasoning due to the unique facts in this case. BACKGROUND At approximately 8:30 p.m. on April 13, 2020, a citizen informant (CI) contacted 911 to report finding Daniels asleep in his truck with the lights on. A video, which was admitted by stipulation, reflects that the truck was parked in a business parking lot but was situated within the entrance/exit and facing outwards as if Daniels was preparing to pull out onto the adjacent road. Initially, at least two deputies with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene. Those deputies called for an ambulance to have EMS conduct a welfare check, a point that Daniels does not dispute. However, Deputy Dustin Bell—the State's lone witness at the suppression hearing—testified that at some 2 point, the deputies at the scene called for him to come to the scene "for a possible DUI." Deputy Bell testified that he arrived within ten minutes of the first deputies but by that time, the EMS technicians had already arrived, determined that Daniels was not having any medical issues, and left the scene. Deputy Bell first spoke with the CI who had called 911. Deputy Bell testified that the CI suggested that Daniels might be intoxicated. And indeed, the video reflects that the CI told Deputy Bell that when he first encountered Daniels, Daniels was slumped over in his seat with his seatbelt on; the CI believed that Daniels had either had a medical incident or that he was drunk. The video also reflects that the CI told Deputy Bell that once he saw Daniels' fingers move, he [the CI] believed that Daniels was likely intoxicated. Deputy Bell then made contact with Daniels who was already awake and outside of his vehicle, having already been checked and cleared by the initial EMS technicians. Deputy Bell told Daniels that he was with the sheriff's office, that he worked with the DUI unit, and that he was there "to make sure that there is not an instance of DUI occurring." Deputy Bell noticed that Daniels 3 appeared lethargic and had …

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