POLICE NOT REQUIRED TO INFORM BUS RIDERS OF RIGHTS, COURT RULES

WEST PALM BEACH -- Bus passengers don't have to be informed of
their constitutional rights or that they can refuse to cooperate with
police during spot searches of their luggage, a state appellate court
stated in a decision Wednesday.

The 4th Court of Appeal addressed the issue by upholding the 1998 drug
trafficking conviction of Thomas Hemingway, who was caught with 6
pounds of cocaine in his carry-on bag and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Appellate judges cited a 11th U.S. Circuit Court decision that an officer
doesn't have to advise bus passengers of their constitutional right of
voluntary consent.

Hemingway argued that he never consented to the search by officers who
had boarded a northbound Greyhound bus in Fort Lauderdale.
The 29-year-old said he didn't feel free to leave the bus and was not
advised of his right to refuse.

The three-judge panel refused to second-guess Circuit Judge Marvin Mounts Jr.
who denied a motion to suppress the cocaine evidence because of lack of
consent after hearing witness testimony at an evidentiary hearing.

The appellate court went on to say, "The fact that the officers did not
inform the
appellant of his right to refuse consent is a factor to consider, but
alone it does not render consent involuntary."

The court, in a footnote, said Hemingway had been arrested about 43 times
and had spent 81/2 years in prison.

"Hence, it is hard to believe that he was not very familiar with the legal
process
and his rights," Associate Judge Cynthia Cox wrote in the decision.

Searches and seizures on buses have become routine for law enforcement in
South Florida.

In Palm Beach County, a squad run by the sheriff's
department, between 1996 and 1998, confiscated about 83 kilograms of
cocaine and 8 kilograms of heroin.

During that time, the team made 67 arrests at bus stations and seized 41 guns.