In Re At

691 S.E.2d 642
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 9, 2010
DocketA09A1711
StatusPublished

This text of 691 S.E.2d 642 (In Re At) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re At, 691 S.E.2d 642 (Ga. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

691 S.E.2d 642 (2010)

In the Interest of A.T., a child.

No. A09A1711.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

March 9, 2010.

*644 Jared L. Roberts, John C. Culp, for appellant.

Richard E. Currie, Dist. Atty., John A. Rumker, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.

PHIPPS, Judge.

After the vehicle in which 16-year-old A.T. was a passenger was stopped, she was found to be in possession of cocaine. The juvenile court adjudicated A.T. delinquent, placed her on probation, and ordered her to pay a fine and fees. On appeal, A.T. contends that the juvenile court erred by refusing to dismiss the delinquency petition, by refusing to suppress the drug evidence, and by imposing the fine and fees. We find merit only in the challenge to the fine and fees. Accordingly, we affirm in part and vacate in part.

1. A.T. contends that the juvenile court erred by denying her motion to dismiss the delinquency petition. A.T.'s motion was premised on OCGA § 15-11-39(a), which provides in pertinent part: "After the petition has been filed the court shall set a hearing thereon, which, if the child is in detention, shall not be later than ten days after the filing of the petition." In In the Interest of R.D.F.,[1] the Supreme Court of Georgia held that the hearing required by the statutory provision is the adjudicatory hearing, not the arraignment hearing. "The language of OCGA § 15-11-39(a) is mandatory and the adjudicatory hearing must be set for a time not later than that prescribed by the statute."[2] This procedural mandate, however, may be waived, or the hearing may be continued for good cause.[3]

A.T. was placed in detention on November 5, 2008, the day of the incident. A delinquency petition accusing her of cocaine possession was filed on November 7. Counsel[4] for A.T. filed a motion to suppress on November 12 and a motion for discovery on November 17. Meanwhile, on November 13, the juvenile court held an arraignment hearing, at which A.T., represented by counsel, denied the charge. At that hearing the court announced an adjudicatory hearing date of December 11, more than one month after the filing of the petition, without objection. On December 8, 2008, for reasons not apparent from the record, the court rescheduled the adjudicatory hearing from December 11 to December 18, 2008.[5] And on that latter date, *645 the day of the adjudicatory hearing, A.T. filed her motion to dismiss, complaining that the juvenile court had not held the hearing within ten days of the filing of the delinquency petition.

At arraignment, A.T., represented by counsel, did not object to an adjudicatory hearing date set by the court beyond the statutorily prescribed ten-day time frame. Subsequently, she did not object to the scheduled hearing date at any time during the statutorily prescribed ten-day time period. Neither did she object to the scheduled hearing date at any other time before the date of the hearing. Given these circumstances, the juvenile court did not err in denying A.T.'s motion to dismiss.[6]

2. A.T. contends that the juvenile court erred in denying her motion to suppress.

In reviewing the grant or denial of a motion to suppress, we construe the evidence in a light most favorable to upholding the trial court's findings and judgment. When the trial court's findings are based upon conflicting evidence, we will not disturb the lower court's ruling if there is any evidence to support its findings, and we accept that court's credibility assessments unless clearly erroneous. The trial court's application of law to undisputed facts, however, is subject to de novo review.[7]

The sole witness at the combined suppression/adjudicatory hearing was Chad Kimbrough, a law enforcement officer at a county sheriff's office. The vehicle was stopped for running a stop sign. As Kimbrough and his fellow officer were walking to the vehicle, Kimbrough observed A.T., "the back seat passenger on the right moving around a lot," and because Kimbrough was "worried about [his] safety and ... [his] partner's safety," he opened the car door and asked what was happening. A.T. replied that she was trying to put on her seat belt. Kimbrough told A.T. to stay still, but within a few minutes, he noticed that she was "moving around" again.

Meanwhile, Kimbrough's partner asked the driver for consent to search the vehicle, which the driver gave, and all the car occupants were directed to step out of the vehicle. Kimbrough patted down A.T. because of her persistent "moving around" in the back seat of a stopped car. The officer asked A.T. whether she had any type of contraband in her pockets and whether she had any identification. A.T. responded that she did not have anything except a pack of cigarettes. Kimbrough asked her to place the cigarette pack on the vehicle, which she did, and then he asked for consent to look inside the cigarette pack. A.T. gave consent and began to cry. Inside the cigarette pack, Kimbrough found a bag containing a substance that was later determined to be cocaine. On appeal, A.T. argues that her consent was invalid because it was obtained during an impermissibly long detention, after an illegal patdown, and otherwise by way of coercion.

(a) Challenging the length of the detention, A.T. cites Cuaresma v. State[8] for the proposition that "[a] detention must last no longer than is necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop, and the scope of the detention must be carefully tailored to its underlying justification."[9] Construed in a light most favorable to upholding the trial court's findings and judgment, the evidence authorized a finding that A.T.'s consent was not given during an illegal detention. The state showed that the stop of the car was authorized, that the driver of the car consented to a search of the vehicle, and that A.T.'s consent was obtained shortly thereafter. There was nothing adduced in evidence that the search of the vehicle had ended *646 before A.T. gave her consent or that the detention of A.T. was otherwise impermissibly expanded.[10]

(b) Challenging the pat down, A.T. argues that Kimbrough did not have reason to believe that he was dealing with an armed and dangerous individual. A police officer may conduct a reasonable search for weapons

where he has reason to believe that he is dealing with an armed and dangerous individual, regardless of whether he has probable cause to arrest the individual for a crime. The officer need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed; the issue is whether a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger.[11]

Kimbrough became concerned about his and his partner's safety, given that he had observed A.T.'s movements in the back seat as the officers were approaching the vehicle and her continued movements even after he asked her to sit still. Kimbrough was not required to accept A.T.'s explanation for the movements—trying to put on her seat belt— instead of determining for himself whether she was armed.[12] Construed in a light most favorable to upholding the trial court's findings and judgment, the evidence authorized the trial court to conclude that Kimbrough was warranted in his belief.[13]

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Bluebook (online)
691 S.E.2d 642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-at-gactapp-2010.