State v. W.E.

In this consolidated appeal, the State challenges the orders entered by the trial court granting W.E. and B.H.’s (“defendants”) motions to suppress a tape recorded conversation held between them while they were sitting in the back seat of a police car.1 We reverse.

While investigating the theft of a golf cart, Deputy Daniel Lee of the Volusia County Sheriffs Department observed three boys walking toward an isolated wooded area where the stolen golf cart had been recovered. Deputy Lee approached the boys and asked them to stop so he could speak to them. They agreed. Deputy Lee asked the boys if…