Richardson v. State

759 S.E.2d 630, 328 Ga. App. 519, 2014 WL 2884109, 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 423
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJune 26, 2014
DocketA14A0409
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 759 S.E.2d 630 (Richardson 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
Richardson v. State, 759 S.E.2d 630, 328 Ga. App. 519, 2014 WL 2884109, 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 423 (Ga. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

MCFADDEN, Judge.

After a jury trial, Leronza Lamar Richardson was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and misdemeanor obstruction of an officer. He appeals, challenging the denial of his motion to suppress and the denial of his Batson motion. He also argues that he received the ineffective assistance of trial counsel. We find that the arresting officer’s decision to detain Richardson was founded on a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal conduct and that the officer legally could frisk Richardson. We find that the state articulated race-neutral reasons for exercising its jury strikes. Finally, we find that trial counsel was not ineffective. We therefore affirm Richardson’s convictions.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, Morris v. State, 322 Ga. App. 682, 682-683 (1) (746 SE2d 162) (2013), the evidence shows that the arresting officer, a deputy sheriff with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, was monitoring traffic on Interstate 75 when he saw Richardson’s minivan fail to maintain its lane. The deputy signaled for Richardson to pull over. Richardson exited the highway, turned left onto the roadway, turned right onto another street, and then stopped at a gas station, about a mile from where the deputy had activated his lights. Richardson, the only person in the minivan, was extremely nervous. Richardson exited his minivan and told the deputy that he had panicked when he saw the deputy because he was driving on some type of limited permit. He said that he was returning to Moultrie from his job at Wendy’s in Atlanta, three hours away, which did not make sense to the deputy. That, combined with Richardson’s nervousness, made the deputy suspicious that “some type of criminal activity was going on.” Almost immediately, a backup officer with a drug detection dog arrived at the scene.

Within five minutes of Richardson stopping, while the backup officer was in the process of issuing a warning citation for failure to maintain lane, the deputy walked the drug detection dog around the minivan. The dog indicated the presence of contraband on the driver’s side of the minivan. The deputy searched the interior of the minivan, but found only an open container of alcohol. The deputy therefore believed that the drugs were on Richardson’s person and had left an odor on the driver’s side of the minivan, where Richardson had been sitting.

Richardson told the deputy that he was a convicted felon and on probation. The deputy asked Richardson for his license, and then made a telephone call to conduct a background check. The deputy [520]*520learned that Richardson had been convicted of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. While the deputy was checking Richardson’s background, the backup officer drove off to another traffic stop; it is not clear at what point Richardson was given the warning citation.

The deputy finished his background-check phone call and then patted down Richardson, looking for weapons. The deputy was very concerned for his safety, given that he was alone with Richardson, that Richardson was so nervous, and the other circumstances, which included the unusual explanation of his travel, the firearm conviction and the drug dog’s alert. During the pat-down search, the deputy felt what he immediately recognized to be contraband on the inside of Richardson’s thigh. The deputy called for another backup officer, explaining that Richardson had drugs on him. Once that officer arrived, the deputy placed Richardson in handcuffs and then put him into the back of his patrol car. Richardson struggled with the deputy as the deputy was trying to remove the contraband. The deputy was able to remove the contraband, fifteen bags of marijuana, a bag of crack cocaine, and a bag of powdered cocaine, all packaged for distribution, not personal use.

1. The trial court did not err by denying the motion to suppress.

“On reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, evidence is construed most favorably to uphold the findings and judgment and the trial court’s findings on disputed facts and credibility must be accepted unless clearly erroneous.” Wright v. State, 294 Ga. 798, 801 (2) (756 SE2d 513) (2014) (citation and punctuation omitted). This “means that we sustain all of the trial court’s findings of fact that are supported by any evidence.” Ansley v. State, 325 Ga. App. 226 (750 SE2d 484) (2013) (citation omitted). Because Richardson challenged the credibility of the deputy, “we do not apply a de novo standard of review, which applies only where the facts are undisputed.” Id. at 227 (citation omitted). Compare State v. Underwood, 283 Ga. 498, 500-501 (661 SE2d 529) (2008) (applying de novo standard where evidence is uncontroverted and credibility is not challenged). Moreover, “we may consider all relevant evidence of record, wherever located.” Tyre v. State, 323 Ga. App. 37, 42 (4) (a) (747 SE2d 106) (2013) (citation and punctuation omitted).

(a) The detention after the initial traffic stop had ended.

Richardson argues on appeal that the deputy unlawfully detained him after the initial traffic stop had ended. But Richardson did not raise this argument in his motion to suppress or at the hearing on the motion. He therefore has waived the argument. Locher v. State, 293 Ga. App. 67, 68-69 (1) (666 SE2d 468) (2008).

“In challenging a trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress, a defendant may not argue on appeal grounds that he did not argue [521]*521(and obtain a ruling on) below. Notwithstanding his waiver, however, [Richardson’s] argument is unavailing.” Bryant v. State, 326 Ga. App. 385, 388 (756 SE2d 621) (2014) (citation and punctuation omitted). As Richardson concedes, the backup officer was writing the warning citation while the drug dog sniffed around the minivan. In less than two minutes, the drug dog had alerted, indicating the presence of contraband. Accordingly, “there was no extension of the stop before officers received a basis independent of the traffic stop to investigate a reasonable suspicion that [Richardson was] in possession of contraband.” State v. Price, 322 Ga. App. 778, 781 (746 SE2d 258) (2013). Moreover, Richardson had told the deputy that he was a convicted felon on probation and was driving on a limited permit, justifying the deputy’s further investigation. See Matthews v. State, 294 Ga. App. 836, 839 (1) (b) (670 SE2d 520) (2008) (“[T]he information developed during the course of the valid traffic stop provided a reasonable, articulable suspicion to prolong [defendant’s] detention beyond the time reasonably required for completion of the traffic stop standing alone.”). Cf. Weems v. State, 318 Ga. App. 749, 752 (1) (734 SE2d 749) (2012) (after officer already had written a warning citation, further detention of defendant was unlawful where the only basis for officer’s actions was the nervousness of defendant and the conflicting stories of defendant and passenger).

(b) The pat-down search.

Richardson argues that the pat-down search was unlawful because it was not supported by a reasonable belief that he was armed and dangerous. Only when a law enforcement officer reasonably believes someone possesses weapons may the officer conduct a pat-down search:

A law enforcement officer, for his own protection and safety, may conduct a pat [-] down to find weapons that he reasonably believes or suspects are then in the possession of the person he has accosted.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fontaine v. the State
779 S.E.2d 664 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2015)
Michael Gene Fontaine v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2015

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
759 S.E.2d 630, 328 Ga. App. 519, 2014 WL 2884109, 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 423, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richardson-v-state-gactapp-2014.