Bryant v. State

740 S.E.2d 772, 320 Ga. App. 838, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1163, 2013 WL 1223827, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 286
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided March 27, 2013·No. A12A2204·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

MILLER, Presiding Judge.

Following a jury trial, Michael Bryant was convicted of possession of cocaine (OCGA § 16-13-30(a)), two counts ofpossessionof atool for the commission of a crime (OCGA § 16-7-20 (a)), riding a bicycle without a headlight (OCGA § 40-6-296 (a)), and failure to surrender a license after suspension (OCGA § 40-9-7 (b)). Bryant was granted an out-of-time appeal to challenge the denial of his motion for new trial. On appeal, Bryant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, and that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for possession of a cell phone as a tool for the commission of a crime. Bryant also challenges his conviction for possession of cocaine because the indictment listed the offense of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute under OCGA § 16-13-30 (b), and further contends that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. Discerning no error, we affirm.

On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to support the verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence. We determine only whether the evidence authorized the jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and in doing so we neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses.

(Citation omitted.) Drammeh v. State, 285 Ga. App. 545, 546 (1) (646 SE2d 742) (2007).

So viewed, the evidence shows that on the night of June 17,2010, two police officers observed Bryant riding his bicycle on a Clayton County street. The officers initiated a traffic stop when they noticed that Bryant was riding without a headlight. Upon approaching Bryant, the officers observed a big bulge in one of Bryant’s pockets. When the officers asked Bryant about the headlight, Bryant was acting very nervous, did not make eye contact with the officers, and kept reaching toward the bulge in his pocket.

The officer then asked Bryant for identification, and Bryant presented his driver’s license. After entering Bryant’s identification information into a mobile terminal, the officer learned that Bryant’s license had been suspended. When the officer returned from his vehicle, he asked Bryant if Bryant knew that his driver’s license had been suspended, and Bryant responded in the affirmative. At this time, Bryant again moved his hand toward the bulge in his pocket, and the officer asked Bryant for consent to search. Bryant refused, [839] and the officers then placed Bryant under arrest for operating a bicycle at night without a headlight and for failing to surrender his driver’s license after suspension.

Before transporting him to jail, the officers searched Bryant for weapons or contraband. As a result of the search, the officers found a digital scale, two cellular telephones, over $270 in U. S. currency, and a small plastic bag containing 27 rock-like substances believed to be crack cocaine. The rock-like substances were later tested and determined to be cocaine.

1. On appeal, Bryant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because he was in custody without the benefit of Miranda1 warnings once the officers discovered that his driver’s license was suspended, rendering inadmissible statements he made and evidence found as a result of those statements. We disagree.

An individual must be advised of his Miranda rights, including his right against self-incrimination, only after being taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way. A person is in custody for Miranda purposes if he has been formally arrested or restrained to the degree associated with a formal arrest. The test for determining whether a detainee is in custody for Miranda purposes is whether a reasonable person in the detainee’s position would have thought the detention would not be temporary.... As a general rule, although a motorist is deprived of his freedom of action during a traffic stop, such detention is insufficient to trigger the rights set forth in Miranda. The issue of whether one is in custody for Miranda purposes is a mixed question of law and fact, and the trial court’s determination will not be disturbed unless it is clearly erroneous.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Waters v. State, 306 Ga. App. 114, 116 (1) (701 SE2d 550) (2010).

Here, although Bryant’s freedom of movement was deprived during the traffic stop, the officer was not required to provide Miranda warnings during the preliminary investigation. See Waters, 306 Ga. App. at 116 (1). Although Bryant argues that the officer was required to Mirandize him at the point the officer discovered his license was suspended, the relevant inquiry is whether the individual [840] was formally arrested or restrained to the degree associated with a formal arrest, not whether the officer had probable cause to arrest. See Hodges v. State, 265 Ga. 870, 872 (2) (463 SE2d 16) (1995); Arce v. State, 245 Ga. App. 466, 466-467 (538 SE2d 128) (2000). We find nothing in the record indicating that Bryant should have been given Miranda warnings at any point prior to the time the officer placed him under arrest for failure to surrender his suspended driver’s license. Notably, there is no evidence that, at any time between the initial stop and the actual arrest, the officer made any statement or took any action that would cause a reasonable person in Bryant’s position to believe that his freedom was restrained to the degree associated with a formal arrest. Bryant was not handcuffed, secured in the back of a police vehicle, or treated in any manner that would raise the investigative stop to the level of an arrest. Consequently, the trial court was authorized to conclude that Bryant was not in custody at the time the officer asked Bryant about his driver’s license, and that Miranda warnings were not required at this time. See Brown v. State, 299 Ga. App. 402, 405 (1) (683 SE2d 614) (2009). Therefore, the trial court did not err in denying Bryant’s motion to suppress on this basis.

2. Bryant challenges his conviction for possession of cell phones as instrumentalities to commit a crime, because such possession was innocuous.2 We do not agree.

With respect to the cell phones, Bryant was charged with possessing devices commonly used in the commission of a violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, with the intent of using said device in the commission of a crime. OCGA § 16-7-20 (a) provides:

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Bryant v. State, 740 S.E.2d 772, 320 Ga. App. 838, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1163, 2013 WL 1223827, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 286 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013).

740 S.E.2d 772 (Bryant v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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