Olson v. State

303 S.E.2d 309, 166 Ga. App. 104, 1983 Ga. App. LEXIS 3209
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 16, 1983
Docket64882
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 303 S.E.2d 309 (Olson v. State) 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
Olson v. State, 303 S.E.2d 309, 166 Ga. App. 104, 1983 Ga. App. LEXIS 3209 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinions

Carley, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of trafficking in marijuana in violation of OCGA § 16-13-31 (c) (Code Ann. § 79A-811) and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment with an accompanying $25,000 fine. He challenges on appeal the partial denial of his motion to suppress the marijuana found on his property, the admission of statements made by appellant at the time of and shortly after his arrest, the admission of evidence concerning the weight of the marijuana confiscated from his property, and the legality of the 20-year sentence.

1. On September 3, 1981, Officers Boddie and Cox of the Palmetto City Police Department received a tip that three fields of marijuana were growing on appellant’s property, a 400-acre tract in Coweta County. The officers and the informer proceeded to an apparently abandoned house located on appellant’s property. Boddie testified that they crossed a portion of appellant’s property before reaching the house, but that he was not sure at the time where appellant’s property line was located and that he saw no signs or fences demarking the property.

Upon their arrival at the abandoned house, Cox located a large amount of suspected marijuana lying under a plastic sheet in the front yard. Boddie left Cox at the scene and met Officer Thompson of the Coweta County Sheriffs Department near a gated, dirt road entering the property. While positioned near the gate, Boddie and Thompson received a radio message from Cox indicating that some unidentified vehicles had pulled up to the abandoned house, that an unidentified person had moved the suspected marijuana, and that the vehicles were leaving the house. Within two to four minutes, two vehicles, including a van being driven by appellant, reached the gate at which Thompson and Boddie were located. Thompson halted the van, spoke with appellant, and shortly thereafter arrested appellant. A search of the van revealed a large quantity of marijuana. Appellant was taken to Coweta County Jail where he was detained throughout the night of September 3.

After arresting appellant, Thompson obtained a search warrant for appellant’s property. A search of the abandoned house and appellant’s residence, located approximately one-half mile from the: [105]*105abandoned house, revealed additional marijuana located in both structures.

On September 4, 1981, Thompson, accompanied by appellant, again searched the premises. Appellant led Thompson to three separate marijuana fields, each of which was well hidden behind plum thickets. Thompson confiscated the marijuana growing in two of the fields. Appellant also led Thompson to a large quantity of marijuana stored in five barrels within a shed near the abandoned house.

Appellant moved to suppress all of the marijuana found on his property and in his vehicle. The trial court granted the motion as to the marijuana found in his residence and vehicle but denied the motion as to the marijuana obtained pursuant to the warrant from the abandoned house, from a shed near the abandoned house, and from the fields. Appellant challenges this partial denial of his motion.

Appellant argues that all of the marijuana seized was the result of an illegal search and is thus tainted and inadmissible under the exclusionary rule. See Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U. S. 643 (81 SC 1684, 6 LE2d 1081) (1961); Katz v. United States, 389 U. S. 347 (88 SC 507, 19 LE2d 576) (1967). Appellant’s position is premised upon an assertion that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the abandoned house and its curtilage, wherein marijuana was first spotted by Cox, that the warrantless “search” of the property surrounding the abandoned house based upon the informant’s tip was illegal, and that the warrant obtained later was based solely upon this illegally-obtained information. In response, the state argues that the initial visit by Boddie and Cox to the abandoned house was justified under the “open fields” doctrine enunciated in Hester v. United States, 265 U. S. 57, 59 (44 SC 445, 68 LE 898) (1924). See Giddens v. State, 156 Ga. App. 258 (1) (274 SE2d 595) (1980).

“[CJonstitutional guaranties of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, applicable to one’s home, refer to his dwelling and other buildings within the curtilage but do not apply to open fields, orchards or other lands not an immediate part of the dwelling site.” Bunn v. State, 153 Ga. App. 270, 272 (265 SE2d 88) (1980). It is not the physical character of a structure that determines whether it is a “dwelling”; rather, it is the actual habitation of a structure that makes it a “dwelling.” See LoGiudice v. State, 164 Ga. App. 709 (297 SE2d 499) (1982). “[T]he Fourth Amendment protects people, not places.”Katz v. United States, 389 U. S. 347, 351, supra. “A dwelling place, whether flimsy or firm, permanent or transient, is its inhabitant’s unquestionable zone of privacy under the Fourth Amendment, for in his dwelling a citizen unquestionably is entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy.” Kelley v. State, 146 Ga. App. [106]*106179, 182-183 (245 SE2d 872) (1978). Thus, an inhabited tent constitutes a “dwelling” with a “curtilage.” Id., p. 183. However, an uninhabited house, though more similar in physical nature to a “dwelling” than a tent, does not constitute a “dwelling” for Fourth Amendment purposes.

The uninhabited house in question was located on a tract of land containing an inhabited house. However, the two houses were approximately one-half mile apart, and one could not be seen from the other. “While the proximity of the outhouse to the mansion or dwelling-house is not the only fact to be considered, yet it is a very important factor in determining the question [of whether the outhouse is within the curtilage], and the outhouse, although it may be used for domestic purposes, must be near enough to the dwelling-house to be protected by the occupants of the latter from trespassing of any sort.” Wright v. State, 12 Ga. App. 514, 518 (77 SE 657) (1913). Thus, in Wright, the smokehouse “two or three hundred yards from the dwelling-house” was not considered part of the curtilage. Likewise, in the present case, the record amply supports the finding that the abandoned house and its surrounding property were not part of the curtilage of appellant’s residence. “[The trial judge’s] finding[s] on a motion to suppress must not be disturbed by this court if there is any evidence to support [them].” Vines v. State, 142 Ga. App. 616, 617 (237 SE2d 17) (1977). Consequently, the trial court correctly concluded that the sighting of the marijuana under the plastic cover in the yard of the abandoned house was authorized pursuant to the “open fields doctrine.”

Appellant argues, however, that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area around the abandoned house, irrespective of whether it was part of the curtilage of his residence. However, the officers testified that they did not see any “no trespassing” signs or fences blocking their entry on to the property. According to Boddie’s testimony at the motion to suppress hearing, “[t]he officers received no notice prior to their entry that the owner or rightful occupant forbade such entry.” Giddens v. State, supra, p. 259.

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Olson v. State
303 S.E.2d 309 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
303 S.E.2d 309, 166 Ga. App. 104, 1983 Ga. App. LEXIS 3209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/olson-v-state-gactapp-1983.