Burdette v. The State., 210 Ga. App. 471, 436 S.E.2d 502 (1993)
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Summary
Judgment affirmed. McMurray, P. J., and Blackburn, J., concur.
Summary
Judgment affirmed. McMurray, P. J., and Blackburn, J., concur.
Text
JOHNSON, Judge.
Benjamin Mark Burdette pled guilty to possession of less than one ounce of marijuana in violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act after the trial court denied his motion to suppress. The trial court expressly approved the reservation of this issue for review on appeal by written notation on the sentence form. See Mims v. State,
The following facts were introduced at the motion to suppress hearing. The police went to a Bennigan's restaurant after receiving complaints about activities in the parking lot involving a man named William Ridgeway. After taking Ridgeway into custody for possession of marijuana, they drove to his apartment to conduct a consent search. When they entered the parking lot of Ridgeway's apartment complex, Ridgeway pointed to Burdette, who was sitting in his car in the parking lot and identified him as the person from whom he had purchased the marijuana. When Burdette saw the caravan of marked and unmarked police vehicles, he attempted to leave the parking lot. The police told him to stop and explained the reason for detaining him. The police asked for permission to search the car, which Burdette gave. The search resulted in the discovery of less than an ounce of marijuana.
Burdette argues that he was lawfully sitting in a parking lot when Ridgeway, who was not a known informer, and had no proven indicia of reliability, pointed him out to police. When Burdette attempted to drive out of the parking lot, he had not violated any traffic laws or done anything which would have justified a traffic-related stop. Ridgeway did not indicate to police that he had any reason to believe that Burdette had drugs in the car at that moment, or was scheduled to meet him to make a buy. Therefore, he argues, there was no articulable suspicion justifying an investigatory stop.
Burdette's argument that the information giving rise to the stop must come from a reliable informant is without merit. An inquiry into the indicia of reliability of the informant is appropriate when determining the presence or absence of probable cause but is inapplicable to evaluating information prompting a mere investigatory stop. Watson v. State,
" 'Although an officer may conduct a brief investigative stop of a vehicle, see Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U. S. 648 (99 SC 1391, 59 LE2d 660) (1979), such a stop must be justified by specific, articulable facts sufficient to give rise to a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1, 27 (88 SC 1868, 1883, 20 LE2d 889, 909) (1968); United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U. S. 873 (95 SC 2574, 45 LE2d 607) (1975). Investigative stops of vehicles are analogous to Terry-stops, Terry, supra, and are invalid if based upon only "unparticularlized suspicion or 'hunch,' " 392 U. S. at 27 (88 SC at 1183, 20 LE2d at 909).' United States v. Smith, 799 F2d 704, 707 (11th Cir. 1986). 'An investigatory stop must be justified by some objective manifestation that the person stopped is, or is about to be, engaged in criminal activity. (Cits.)' United States v. Cortez, 449 U. S. 411, 417 (101 SC 690, 66 LE2d 621) (1981)." Evans v. State,
Ridgeway's identification of Burdette as the supplier of the marijuana, coupled with his presence outside Ridgeway's apartment, remove the police's actions beyond the realm of either the "unparticularlized suspicion or hunch" standard articulated in Terry, supra, or "mere caprice or arbitrary harassment." See State v. Watson,
The trial court in this case made a finding that the grounds for the stop articulated by the police were reasonable. "On appeal of the denial of a motion to suppress, the evidence is to be construed most favorably to the upholding of the findings and judgment made. The trial court's findings must be adopted unless determined to be clearly erroneous. The facts in this case do not dictate a departure from this general rule." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Watson v. State,
Lee Sexton & Associates, Lee Sexton, for appellant.
1993
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This document cites
- U.S. Supreme Court - United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411 (1981)
- U.S. Supreme Court - Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
- U.S. Supreme Court - United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
- U.S. Supreme Court - Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
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