Abercrombie v. State, A17A1847

Decision Date03 November 2017
Docket NumberA17A1847
Parties ABERCROMBIE v. The STATE.
CourtGeorgia Court of Appeals

Penny Sueann Hunter, for Appellant.

William Jeffrey Langley, Faizah Shabazz, for Appellee.

Dillard, Chief Judge.

David Abercrombie appeals from the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence, contending that the trial court should have granted the motion because (1) the officer who stopped him lacked reasonable, articulable suspicion to do so and (2) the officer did not make a reasonable mistake of law. For the reasons set forth infra, we reverse.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court's ruling,1 the evidence shows that on May 22, 2015, a law-enforcement officer passed Abercrombie's single-cab pickup truck while driving in the opposite direction and noticed that the vehicle lacked an interior rearview mirror. The officer then initiated a traffic stop and, upon making contact with Abercrombie at the vehicle, detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage. During the investigation that ensued (which included the administration of field-sobriety tests),2 one of two officers saw in plain view inside Abercrombie's truck a pipe used to smoke marijuana and, upon a brief search, suspected marijuana. Thereafter, Abercrombie was arrested for possession of marijuana and drug-related objects. Then, during a more thorough contraband search of Abercrombie's vehicle, the officers discovered a methamphetamine pipe. The officers also found methamphetamine outside of, but close to, Abercrombie's vehicle.

Abercrombie was subsequently indicted for possession of methamphetamine and drug-related objects. He moved to suppress the drug evidence, arguing that the stop of his vehicle was unconstitutional. The State argued at the suppression hearing that the stop was permissible because driving a vehicle that lacks an interior rearview mirror constitutes an equipment violation under OCGA § 40-8-7 and OCGA § 40-8-72. And indeed, the officer who stopped Abercrombie's vehicle testified that this was why he initiated the stop.

In particular, the officer testified that his understanding of the law was that "anything the vehicle comes equipped with has to be in good working condition if it came from the manufacturer." And although he did not testify to the make, model, or year of Abercrombie's single-cab truck, the officer opined that "most, even the older cars, always come with a rearview mirror." The officer also testified that "[y]our rearview mirror is the only one that reflects distinctly for the actual rear of your vehicle," and that side mirrors are only appropriate for box trucks and vehicles with cages (i.e., vehicles with an obstructed view). Then he immediately reiterated his understanding that "if it's a vehicle that comes equipped with a rearview mirror, it needs to be in good working condition." The officer also explained that relying upon side mirrors for a rear view makes it a "bit more difficult to notice what's behind you," and therefore, "you always need to have a rearview mirror ... so you can see directly behind your vehicle."

The officer testified further that he frequently enforces equipment violations under OCGA § 40-8-7 because "anything your vehicle comes equipped with ... we just want to bring it to their attention...." He then later clarified, when confronted with the text of the statute, that his understanding of OCGA § 40-8-7 was that it required "if your vehicle is equipped [sic] then everything has to be in good working condition," such that "[i]f the vehicle is equipped with a rearview mirror, then it needs to be equipped with it in good working condition." Thus, the officer testified that because he believed that Abercrombie's vehicle had originally been equipped with an interior rearview mirror but did not have one at the time the officer observed the vehicle on the road, Abercrombie was committing an equipment violation.

Upon further questioning regarding OCGA § 40-8-72, the officer admitted that Abercrombie's truck had two side mirrors, and he testified that he understood the law to require that a vehicle have a mirror that reflects 200 feet to the rear and that it did not specify a type of mirror. But he then opined that "if you look up the definition of side mirrors, it's for your blind spots, things of that nature" and that the "rearview mirror is specifically to direct the reflection of rear [sic] of your vehicle." And, once again, the officer testified that "they're all equipped with it" and that the only vehicles he had observed without an interior rearview mirror were box trucks or "something that wouldn't even make sense if you had a rearview mirror because you are not going to see to the rearview anyway[.]" He concluded, "that's where I think that Code Section puts in there that your two side mirrors would suffice if your vehicle is like a commercial vehicle, I think."

After hearing the officer's testimony, as well as argument from Abercrombie and the State, the trial court agreed with the State's argument regarding an equipment violation but additionally found that even if the lack of an interior rearview mirror was not an equipment violation under the law, the officer had acted in good faith when he initiated the stop. Accordingly, the trial court denied the motion to suppress but also issued a certificate of immediate review. We then granted Abercrombie's application for an interlocutory appeal.

When we consider a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress, we construe the evidence in favor of the court's ruling, "and we review de novo the trial court's application of the law to undisputed facts."3

Additionally, the State has the burden of proving the lawfulness of a search and seizure at the motion-to-suppress hearing.4 With these guiding principles in mind, we turn now to Abercrombie's enumerations of error.

1. Abercrombie argues that the officer who stopped him lacked reasonable, articulable suspicion to initiate a stop of his vehicle. Specifically, he contends that his truck's lack of an interior rearview mirror did not constitute a violation of OCGA § 40-8-7 and OCGA § 40-8-72 and, as a result, could not have given the officer the requisite reasonable, articulable suspicion to justify a stop. We agree.

In order to initiate a traffic stop, a law-enforcement officer must have "specific and articulable facts that provide a reasonable suspicion that the individual being stopped is engaged in criminal activity."5 Here, as previously detailed, the officer who stopped Abercrombie testified that he initiated the stop due to a suspected violation of OCGA § 40-8-7 and OCGA § 40-8-72 when he noticed that Abercrombie's single-cab pickup truck lacked an interior rearview mirror. Thus, we must determine whether the absence of an interior rearview mirror constitutes a violation of the relevant Code sections.

In this regard, the fundamental rules of statutory construction require us to "construe the statute according to its terms, to give words their plain and ordinary meaning, and to avoid a construction that makes some language mere surplusage."6 Put another way, when we consider the meaning of a statute, we must (1) "presume that the General Assembly meant what it said and said what it meant,"7 and (2) "read the statutory text in its most natural and reasonable way, as an ordinary speaker of the English language would."8 As our Supreme Court has recently explained,

[i]n our search for the meaning of a particular statutory provision, we look not only to the words of that provision, but we consider its legal context as well. After all, context is a primary determinant of meaning. For context, we may look to the other provisions of the same statute, the structure and history of the whole statute, and the other law—constitutional, statutory, and common law alike—that forms the legal background of the statutory provision in question.9

Here, the relevant statutes are OCGA § 40-8-7 and OCGA § 40-8-72. OCGA § 40-8-7 provides, in pertinent part, that

[n]o person shall drive or move on any highway any motor vehicle ... unless the equipment upon any and every such vehicle is in good working order and adjustment as required in this chapter and the vehicle is in such safe mechanical condition as not to endanger the driver or other occupant or any person upon the highway.10

That Code section also specifies that it is a misdemeanor to drive "on any street or highway any vehicle ... [w]hich does not contain those parts or is not at all times equipped with such lights and other equipment in proper condition and adjustment as required in this chapter[.]"11 As far as equipment with mirrors is concerned, OCGA § 40-8-72 provides:

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, every motor vehicle which is so constructed or loaded as to obstruct the driver's view to the rear thereof from the driver's position shall be equipped with a mirror so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for a distance of at least 200 feet to the rear of such vehicle.
(b) Every commercial motor vehicle shall be equipped with two rear-vision mirrors meeting the requirements of the federal motor vehicle safety standards ... in effect at the time of manufacture, one at each side, firmly attached to the outside of the motor vehicle, and so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway to the rear, along both sides of the vehicle; provided, however, that only one outside mirror shall be required, which shall be on the driver's side, on a commercial motor vehicle which is so constructed that the driver has a view to the rear by means of an interior mirror.

The trial court summarily concluded in its order that the officer's stop of Abercrombie's vehicle "was valid." But at the motion-to-suppress hearing, the court explained its belief that the statutes at issue were "vague enough that the officer's interpretation is correct." We disagree.

First, as to OCGA § 40-8-7, although the...

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6 cases
  • Gayton v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • November 3, 2021
    ...which "has the burden of proving the lawfulness of a search and seizure at the motion-to-suppress hearing," Abercrombie v. State , 343 Ga. App. 774, 777, 808 S.E.2d 245 (2017), did not produce evidence that established a basis for reasonable suspicion that Gayton might have been the suspect......
  • Gayton v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • November 3, 2021
    ... ... "has the burden of proving the lawfulness of a search ... and seizure at the motion-to-suppress hearing," ... Abercrombie v. State , 343 Ga.App. 774, 777 (808 ... S.E.2d 245) (2017), did not produce evidence that established ... a basis for reasonable ... ...
  • State v. Lewis, A17A1692
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • February 21, 2018
    ...no exception to Georgia’s exclusionary rule when evidence has been seized unlawfully[.]"); Abercrombie v. State , 343 Ga. App. 774, 791 (2) (b), 808 S.E.2d 245 (2017) ("Gary remains good law and, as a result, is binding precedent on this ...
  • Harris v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • February 14, 2018
    ...understanding of the particular officer involved." Id., ––––, 135 S.Ct. at 539 (II) (emphasis in original).In Abercrombie v. State , 343 Ga. App. 774, 808 S.E.2d 245 (2017), this Court recently applied the Heien holding in a case with facts similar to those before us now.[W]e have previousl......
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1 books & journal articles
  • Probable cause and reasonable suspicion: arrests, seizures, stops and frisks
    • United States
    • James Publishing Practical Law Books Archive Suppressing Criminal Evidence - 2020 Contents
    • July 31, 2020
    ...v. State , PROBABLE CAUSE, REA SONABLE SUSPICION 5-27 Probable Cause and Reasonable Suspicion: Arrests, Seizures, Stops and Frisks §5:53 808 S.E.2d 245 (Ga. 2017). A similar ruling can be found in State v. Sutherland , 176 A.3d 775 (N.J. 2018), where the court found an oficer’s mistake of f......

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