Georgia appeals court reverses drug conviction because the traffic stop was improper
The Court of Appeals of Georgia recently held that a traffic stop is improper where the suspect simply parks in front of a residence where criminal activity has taken place.
In Pritchard v. State, the defendant, Pritchard, was convicted of a single count of possession of methamphetamine. On the day of Pritchard’s arrest, an unidentified person called the Newton County Sheriff’s Department to report suspicious vehicles around a residence that the police had previously identified as a “drug house.” Upon arriving, the deputy was flagged down by the caller who stated that a truck and a Camry had just pulled out of the residence. As the deputy approached the Camry, Pritchard, the driver, pulled into another driveway. A different deputy then went to converse with Pritchard and discovered that she did not live there. The deputy then instructed Pritchard to pull out of the driveway. The deputy later testified that the driver was “stopped” and not free to leave at this point. As the deputy was speaking to Pritchard, he saw a clear plastic baggie in the middle console which later tested positive for methamphetamine and subsequently led to her conviction.
The Court of Appeals noted that a police officer must have a particularized and objective basis for suspecting a person of criminal activity in order to make an investigatory stop. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Georgia has held that an officer lacks a reasonable and articulable suspicion necessary to stop a person who is driving near or parking near a location where crimes have been committed. Here, the only evidence to justify a traffic stop was that Pritchard’s vehicle was in front of a “drug house.” Thus, the traffic stop which led to the methamphetamine was a violation of Pritchard’s Fourth Amendment rights which required her conviction to be reversed.
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. Page Pate was recently the Chairman of the Criminal Law Section of the Atlanta Bar Association.
