Florida District Courts of Appeal, 1999

State v. Bostick

State v. Bostick
Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided November 22, 1999 · Ervin, Lawrence, Padovano
745 So. 2d 496; 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 15591; 1999 WL 1049566 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

State v. Bostick

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

The state appeals an order suppressing cocaine and a handgun from the an automobile driven by the defendant, Joseph Bostick. We reverse. The 'defendant lacked standing to challenge the seizure of these items of evidence from the car, because the car was stolen. See Rafeas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978); State v. Singleton, 595 So.2d 44 (Fla. 1992). The defendant contends that ownership of the car was established only by the officer’s radio check of the vehicle identification number, and that the state failed to present any nonhearsay evidence that the car had been stolen. This argument incorrectly reverses the burden of proof. A defendant who moves to suppress evidence on the ground that it was seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment has the burden of establishing that he or she has standing to object to the seizure. See Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960); see generally, Rafeas; Singleton.

Reversed.

ERVIN, LAWRENCE and PADOVANO, JJ., CONCUR.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.