Taylor v. State

498 S.E.2d 113, 230 Ga. App. 749, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 1025, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 265
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 24, 1998
DocketA97A2439
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 498 S.E.2d 113 (Taylor 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
Taylor v. State, 498 S.E.2d 113, 230 Ga. App. 749, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 1025, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 265 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

Beasley, Judge.

Taylor and Pritchett were charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. They were tried jointly and convicted of possession of cocaine. OCGA § 16-13-30. Taylor was given a sentence of 25 years imprisonment without possibility of parole because this was his fourth felony conviction. OCGA § 17-10-7 (c). He appeals the order denying his motion for new trial. We previously affirmed Pritchett’s conviction in an unpublished opinion in Case No. A96A1270.

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on February 11, 1994, Officer Wheeler (head of the narcotics investigation division of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department) and Officer Jewell (a member of the sheriff’s department’s DUI task force) were patrolling Interstate 20 while it was misting rain. They observed a car being driven at a speed of 45 mph in the center lane of the highway. They stopped the *750 car because it was creating a traffic hazard as other vehicles were having to swerve to avoid hitting it, and operation of a car in this manner is sometimes an indication of DUI. Jewell approached Taylor, the driver, and Wheeler approached Pritchett, the front seat passenger.

While questioning Pritchett as he remained in the car, Wheeler detected the odor of marijuana and had Pritchett exit the car. In response to questioning by Wheeler, Pritchett stated that he did not have any weapons or drugs and then gave his consent to a search of his person. No contraband was found. After Taylor admitted to Jewell that he had been drinking, Jewell administered an alco-sensor test which was positive but did not show that Taylor was intoxicated. He refused to submit to a urine test but consented to a search of his vehicle for drugs, which was performed within five minutes after the car was stopped. On the floor between the front seats, Wheeler immediately found 81 individually wrapped rocks of cocaine inside a napkin. Taylor and Pritchett were arrested for possession of cocaine.

1. For a number of reasons, Taylor contends that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress the cocaine and other evidence obtained as a result of the traffic stop. All is considered in the following context: ‘When we review a trial court’s decision on a motion to suppress, the evidence is construed most favorably to uphold the findings and judgment of the trial court; the trial court’s findings on disputed facts and credibility are adopted unless they are clearly erroneous and will not be disturbed if there is any evidence to support them. [Cits.]” State v. Corley, 201 Ga. App. 320 (411 SE2d 324) (1991).

(a) First, Taylor argues that the stop was without legal authorization.

“It is evident that the stop of a vehicle is authorized if an officer observes the commission of a traffic offense. [Cit.]” Hines v. State, 214 Ga. App. 476, 477 (448 SE2d 226) (1994). The evidence supports a finding that the officers observed Taylor violate OCGA § 40-6-184 (a) (1): “No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation.”

(b) Taylor next argues that the stop was pretextual, in that the underlying purpose of the officers was to investigate and search for drugs.

The federal constitutional test for determining whether a traffic stop is pretextual was articulated in Whren v. United States, 517 U. S. 806 (116 SC 1769, 135 LE2d 89) (1996). As restated hi Brantley v. State, 226 Ga. App. 872, 873 (1) (487 SE2d 412) (1997): “when an officer sees a traffic offense occur, a resulting traffic stop does not violate the Fourth Amendment even if the officer has ulterior motives in *751 initiating the stop, and even if a reasonable officer would not have made the stop under the same circumstances. ... In other words, if the driver of a stopped car has broken a traffic law, no matter how relatively minor, a motion to suppress evidence can no longer be based on the argument that the stop was pretextual — at least under federal law.” The Whren test supplants the test previously applied in such cases as Tarwid v. State, 184 Ga. App. 853, 854 (1) (363 SE2d 63) (1987), which measured the stop only by federal constitutional law. Taylor made, and makes on appeal, no independent claim based on state constitutional law, so we do not address it. The evidence authorized the trial court to find that the stop in this case was valid.

(c) Taylor also contends that his continued detention after it was determined that he was not intoxicated exceeded the stated purpose of the investigative stop.

The fact that the vehicle was being driven so slowly as to create a traffic hazard authorized the officers to investigate the condition of the driver. See Pupo v. State, 187 Ga. App. 765 (1) (371 SE2d 219) (1988); Gabbidon v. State, 184 Ga. App. 475, 476 (2) (361 SE2d 861) (1987). It also authorized a stop for a traffic violation. Officer Wheeler’s detection of the odor of marijuana after the stop was initiated provided reasonable suspicion both that marijuana was present in the car and that Taylor had been driving under the influence of drugs. See OCGA § 40-6-391 (a) (2). Having effected a valid traffic stop, the officers were authorized to request consent to search the automobile. Gamble v. State, 223 Ga. App. 653, 656 (3) (478 SE2d 455) (1996). The stop did not exceed the bounds of a brief investigative detention, so Taylor’s consent to search was not the product of an illegal detention. The evidence supports the court’s finding that his consent was freely and voluntarily given. See Davis v. State, 194 Ga. App. 482, 483 (1) (391 SE2d 124) (1990); compare Brown v. State, 188 Ga. App. 184 (372 SE2d 514) (1988).

(d) Taylor also maintains that the investigative stop should have ended before Officer Wheeler conducted his search, because Officer Jewell previously shined his flashlight through the car windows and briefly entered the car without observing any contraband. There is no evidence that Taylor withdrew his consent after Jewell conducted his cursory search. Thus, the court was authorized to find that each officer’s search of the car was within the scope of consent given by Taylor. See Aranda v. State, 226 Ga. App. 157, 159 (2) (486 SE2d 379) (1997).

(e) Lastly, Taylor argues that any consent by him to search the car did not authorize the officers to open the napkin in which the contraband was found. He cites State v. Corley, supra, and State v. Diaz, 191 Ga. App. 830, 832 (2) (383 SE2d 195) (1989). Both cases are distinguishable. In each, the officer asked merely for permission to “look *752 inside” the vehicle.

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Bluebook (online)
498 S.E.2d 113, 230 Ga. App. 749, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 1025, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 265, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-state-gactapp-1998.