State v. Culler

830 S.E.2d 434, 351 Ga. App. 19
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJune 25, 2019
DocketA19A0244
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 830 S.E.2d 434 (State v. Culler) 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
State v. Culler, 830 S.E.2d 434, 351 Ga. App. 19 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

Gobeil, Judge.

*19In this DUI case, the State appeals from an order of the Bibb County State Court finding that a law enforcement officer lacked probable cause to arrest Antonio Mikeal-Austin Culler and granting Culler's motion to suppress the evidence resulting from that arrest. The State contends that the trial court erred when, in assessing probable cause, it: (1) failed to consider the totality of the circumstances; and (2) gave no weight to the results of a field sobriety test administered to Culler. For reasons explained more fully below, we vacate the trial court's ruling and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

In a hearing on a motion to suppress, the trial court sits as the trier of fact and its findings are analogous to a jury verdict. Watts v. State , 334 Ga. App. 770, 771, 780 S.E.2d 431 (2015). Accordingly, we defer to the trial court's credibility determinations and will not disturb its factual findings in the *437absence of clear error. Id. And "[w]hen reviewing the grant or denial of a motion to suppress, an appellate court must construe the evidentiary record in the light most favorable to the trial court's factual findings and judgment." Caffee v. State , 303 Ga. 557, 557, 814 S.E.2d 386 (2018). Additionally, as a general rule, appellate courts must limit their "consideration of the disputed facts to those expressly found by the trial court." Id. (citation and punctuation omitted). See also Hughes v. State , 296 Ga. 744, 746 (1), 770 S.E.2d 636 (2015) (on an appeal from the grant or denial of a motion to suppress, appellate courts must "focus on the facts found by the trial court in its order") (citation, punctuation, and emphasis omitted). "An appellate court may, however, consider facts that definitively can be ascertained exclusively by reference to evidence that is uncontradicted and presents no questions of credibility, such as facts indisputably discernible from a videotape." Caffee , 303 Ga. at 559 (1), 814 S.E.2d 386 (citation and punctuation omitted). Finally, although we defer to the trial court's fact-finding, we owe no deference to the trial court's legal conclusions. Hughes , 296 Ga. at 750 (2), 770 S.E.2d 636. Instead, we independently apply the law to the facts as found by the trial court. Id.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court's judgment, the record shows that at approximately 2:30 a.m. on November 25, 2017, Officer Thomas Burns of the Georgia State Patrol observed a Nissan Murano driving in downtown Macon without its headlights illuminated. Based on the lack of headlights, Burns conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle, which was driven by Culler. The traffic stop, in turn, led to Culler's arrest for DUI. Following his arrest, and after *20being read Georgia's implied consent notice, Culler agreed to provide a breath sample, which was "positive."1

Culler was charged by accusation with a single count each of DUI per se,2 DUI less safe,3 and driving without headlights. Prior to trial, Culler filed a motion to suppress the results of his breath test, asserting that the officer lacked probable cause to arrest him and therefore the evidence was obtained illegally. The trial court held a hearing on the motion to suppress, at which the State presented the testimony of the arresting officer and the video recording of the traffic stop.4

The video shows that once the officer initiated the traffic stop, Culler responded by immediately pulling the car off of the roadway and into what appeared to be an adjacent parking lot, out of the way of traffic. Culler exited the vehicle and waited for the officer to approach him. Culler provided Burns with his driver's license and responded to Burns's questions. According to Burns, during this exchange, the officer noticed that Culler's eyes appeared bloodshot and watery and his speech was slurred. Burns also detected a "strong odor" of alcohol emanating from Culler's person. Based on these observations, Burns asked Culler how much alcohol he had consumed that evening. Culler initially responded, "not that much," and then clarified that he had consumed 2 to 3 mixed drinks over the course of the evening, and that he had last consumed alcohol approximately 40 minutes earlier. Burns then asked Culler if he would be willing to submit to field sobriety tests, and Culler agreed. The *438officer performed three field sobriety tests on Culler: the walk-and-turn, the one-leg stand, and the horizontal gaze nystagmus ("HGN").

According to Burns, he performed these standardized tests in accordance with his training.5 Two of the tests (the HGN and the *21one-leg stand) were performed in view of the patrol car's camera and were captured on the video recording of the traffic stop. Burns explained, however, that because of uneven pavement in front of the patrol car, he had Culler perform the walk-and-turn test in a different part of the parking area, out of the camera's range.6 Burns testified that Culler tested positive on six out of six clues (three in each eye) on the HGN test and on one clue on the walk-and-turn test.7 Both Burns's testimony and the video of the traffic stop show Culler exhibited no clues on the one-leg stand test.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
830 S.E.2d 434, 351 Ga. App. 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-culler-gactapp-2019.