Criminal defense attorney wins appeal suppressing drug evidence found in an illegal search
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently held that marijuana found in a vehicle after a citation was issued should be suppressed as the result of an illegal search. The court based this ruling on the conclusion that the encounter was not consensual, and there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
In State v. Felton, the defendant, Felton, was in the passenger seat of a vehicle which was pulled over because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt. The officer noticed that the driver’s hands were shaky and that he had eye tremors. The officer took the driver’s license and returned to his police cruiser where he filled out a citation. The officer noticed that the driver and Felton were turning around to look at the officer while he was issuing the citation. When the officer returned, he asked the driver to step out of the car. The officer handed the driver the citation, and then asked for consent to search the driver’s car. The driver agreed and the officer told Felton to exit the car. During the search of the vehicle, the officer found a potato chip bag which contained marijuana. Felton admitted that it was his and was then arrested for possession.
Felton argued that the marijuana should be suppressed, since the initial stop was unjustified and the officer exceeded the scope of the initial stop. The trial judge found that the stop had ended when the license and citation were given to the driver. The judge also found that there was not sufficient evidence to expand the stop at that time to request a search. The state appealed.
The Georgia Court of Appeals noted the general rule that an officer exceeds the scope of a traffic stop when he continues to detain the person after the conclusion of the stop and then interrogates or seeks to search without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The evidence showed no reasonable suspicion to search. It is also illegal to search at the end of a traffic stop when an encounter with a police officer is not consensual in the absence of reasonable suspicion. The court found that at no time did the encounter between the officer and the men become consensual, since it was not apparent that the men were free to leave. This is partially because the officer made the driver exit the vehicle before giving the citation and then the officer asked to search. Thus, the search was illegal, since it was not a consensual encounter nor did the officer have any reasonable suspicion to believe that criminal activity was afoot. As a result, evidence of the marijuana was suppressed.
Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon and Madison. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for people charged with serious crimes. We have successfully represented clients facing serious federal criminal charges and state criminal charges in courts across Georgia. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia's "Super Lawyers", and included among Georgia's "Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend Magazine.
