Clark v. State

532 S.E.2d 481

243 Ga. App. 362

CLARK et al. v. The STATE.

No. A99A2255.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

March 24, 2000.

Reconsideration Denied April 6, 2000.

Certiorari Denied October 6, 2000.

Herbert Shafer, Atlanta, for appellants.

Lydia J. Sartain, District Attorney, Deborah R. Mitchell, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.

ANDREWS, Presiding Judge.

Tiffney Latrice Clark and Dwon Anthony Johnson appeal from the judgment entered on the jury's verdict following their convictions of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute (both), possession of cocaine with intent to distribute (both), possession of marijuana (Clark), driving with a cracked windshield and driving with no tag (Johnson).

All eight enumerations deal with issues surrounding the initial stop of Johnson's vehicle without a warrant and the two search warrants which were thereafter obtained for the residence of Clark and Johnson and the bank where Johnson maintained his checking account and safe deposit box.

In determining the legality of a search, this Court may consider all relevant and admissible evidence of record, including that introduced at the suppression hearing as well as that produced during trial, viewing that evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict. Fritzius v. State, 225 Ga.App. 642, 645, 484 S.E.2d 743 (1997); Underwood v. State, 218 Ga.App. 530(1), 462 S.E.2d 434 (1995).

So viewed, the evidence was that Officer Ware of the Multi Agency Narcotics Squad (MANS) was contacted by an informant regarding Johnson on Wednesday, May 27, 1998. Ware met the informant in person that day around 3:30 p.m. The informant¹ had not previously provided information to Ware or other officers but indicated that Johnson was a major distributor of marijuana and cocaine. The informant described Johnson as an African-American male, 6' 2" tall, weighing approximately 300 pounds. He advised Ware that Johnson charged $900 per pound of marijuana, $250 per quarter-pound of marijuana, and $1,000 per ounce of cocaine. Further, Johnson was said to own several vehicles, including a blue and silver pickup truck bearing a drive-out tag. The informant also provided Johnson's pager number and said that Johnson lived off Cleveland Highway, giving directions which led to Darrell Lane Road.

On June 1, Ware spoke to the informant around 3:00 p.m. The informant advised he had talked to Johnson who said he was out of marijuana but could deliver an ounce of cocaine. During that conversation, the informant also provided a telephone number for Johnson. On June 2, Officer Ware was called by the informant around 10:40 a.m. The informant said he had talked to Johnson who said he was going to Atlanta to get more marijuana, he would be back in Gainesville in a couple of hours, and he would contact the informant. Based on this information, Ware met with Hall County Deputy Sheriff Nix, a patrol officer, and other MANS officers and set up a surveillance for a blue and silver Chevy or GMC pickup truck with a drive-out tag, driven by Johnson.

Around 12:40 p.m., the informant contacted Ware and advised that Johnson had just contacted him and said he would be at a predesignated location at the intersection of Bradford and Myrtle Streets in approximately 15 minutes. Surveillance was set up at that location and Officer Nix, in his marked car, spotted a truck matching the description traveling on Main Street. The truck turned onto Myrtle Street, and Nix noticed that the paper drive-out tag "was faded ... [and] curled up around the edges, it was faded, the writing was faded somewhat and appeared to [have] been there for some time." A drive-out tag may be legally used for only 30 days. It is not disputed that, whether Nix had spotted the tag or not, the truck was going to be stopped at the direction of Ware based on the informant's information. As Officer Nix testified, "[t]he plan that I had was to make the traffic stop on their request[,]" and he acknowledged that the curled drive-out tag was not the primary concern behind the stop.

At that time, Nix stopped the truck. Approximately nine other officers and a K-9 unit also participated in the surveillance and the stop. Johnson was driving, and Clark was in the passenger seat. Johnson produced his driver's license, insurance card, and a bill of sale dated January 9, 1998. Johnson was issued citations for not having his tag and for a cracked windshield.

Officer Ware asked Johnson if he had any drugs or weapons, which Johnson denied. Ware then asked Johnson if they could search the truck, and Johnson consented. When no substantial amount of marijuana was immediately located by Ware and Officer Neville, the K-9 unit, Officer Neece and Duke, went over the truck. Duke reacted to the floorboard area of the passenger's side, particularly Clark's purse, which was lying there. The purse contained less than an ounce of marijuana, and a marijuana seed was found on the floorboard.

Upon getting out of the truck, Clark was asked by Officer Neville for her name and address. She refused to give any information.

Ware interviewed Clark at the scene of the stop, and she told him she had obtained the marijuana from a co-worker the day before and that she intended to give it to her grandfather. She also told Ware that she had been by her residence on Darrell Lane that morning while in possession of the marijuana. Clark denied that Johnson resided at that residence or kept clothing there but said he lived with his mother elsewhere.

Ware then proceeded to a magistrate, where he intended to obtain a search warrant based on the informant's information, Clark's possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, and her having been in her residence with that marijuana.² Prior to the issuance of the warrant, however, Ware received another telephone call from the informant who advised that Johnson had contacted him and said that he had been stopped and his vehicle searched. Johnson then told the informant he was en route to retrieve the drugs at the place where they were being kept. Ware had posted agents to watch the residence while he attempted to obtain a warrant, and, shortly after receiving the informant's call, Agent Weaver contacted Ware and said that Johnson had just pulled into the driveway and, upon observing the police car in the driveway, had immediately pulled out of the driveway and left the area.

A search warrant was obtained for Clark and Johnson's residence, based on both Ware's original affidavit and a handwritten sworn affidavit obtained by the magistrate, containing the information set out in the preceding paragraph. Upon execution of the warrant, a duffel bag containing five kilos of marijuana and three and one-half grams of cocaine was found in the kitchen of the residence. The marijuana was in 19 plastic bags containing amounts ranging from several ounces to a pound. Also in the duffel bag were additional packaging materials and an electronic scale. A second search warrant was obtained for Johnson's checking account and safe deposit box, based on his checkbook and the keys to the safe deposit box having been located and seized during the search of the apartment. In the safe deposit box was $8,000 in cash, in stacks held by rubber bands.³ The checking account contained $9,282.09.

1. The first enumeration is that, because Clark was told she was or could be arrested under OCGA § 16-10-24(a) (obstruction of an officer), that was an illegal application of that statute and the information and items obtained by the ensuing searches of the residence and bank were illegally obtained and should have been suppressed.⁴

While, as argued by Clark, merely refusing to identify oneself to a police officer is not a crime, one may commit obstruction when knowingly and wilfully hindering an officer in investigating an offense committed by another. Wagner v. State, 206 Ga.App. 180, 182, 424 S.E.2d 861 (1992) (physical precedent only); see Wynn v. State, 236 Ga.App. 98, 99-100(2), 511 S.E.2d 201 (1999). Here, Officer Nix had at least a reasonable suspicion that Johnson was driving without a proper tag, if not for investigation of possible drug possession by him.

Refusal to provide identification in such circumstances can be the basis for prosecution under OCGA § 16-10-24(a), and whether one is guilty of such an offense is a question for the jury or other factfinder to determine. Bailey v. State, 190 Ga.App. 683, 684, 379 S.E.2d 816 (1989); Hudson v. State, 135 Ga.App. 739, 741(2), 218 S.E.2d 905 (1975).

Therefore, Clark's argument that detaining her under threat of such a prosecution tainted the following searches is without merit.

2. The second enumeration is that the traffic stop was "pretextual" and in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Art. I, Sec. I, Par. XIII of the Georgia Constitution.

In Whren v. United States, [517 U.S. 806, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996),] the United States Supreme Court held that 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 initiating the stop, and even if a reasonable officer would not have made the stop under the same circumstances. [See State v. Owens, 239 Ga.App. 722, 521 S.E.2d 860 (1999).]

Smith v. State, 240 Ga.App. 150, 151(1), 522 S.E.2d 744 (1999). See also Garmon v. State, 271 Ga. 673, 678(3), 524 S.E.2d 211 (1999).

In Smith, the officers had reasonable suspicion, at least, that Smith might be in possession of drugs but saw a traffic violation, an expired tag, before stopping Smith. This Court found that the traffic violation justified the stop. Here, regardless of the officers' underlying intentions, Nix's spotting of the expired drive-out tag justified the stop.

There was no error in denying the motion to suppress on this ground.

3. Enumerations three, four, five and six⁵ all attack the warrant issued to...