Arnold v. State

• Citation: 12 FCDR 1667,728 S.E.2d 317,315 Ga.App. 798
• Decision Date: 04 May 2012
• Docket Number: No. A12A0453.,A12A0453.
• Parties: ARNOLD v. The STATE.
• Court: United States Court of Appeals (Georgia)

315 Ga.App. 798
728 S.E.2d 317
12 FCDR 1667

ARNOLD
v.
The STATE.

No. A12A0453.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

May 4, 2012.

[728 S.E.2d 318]

Lisamarie Nellyn Bristol, for Arnold.

Layla Hinton Zon, Walter Cliff Howard, for The State.

ADAMS, Judge.

[315 Ga.App. 798]Following a bench trial on partially stipulated evidence, Orienthal James Arnold was convicted of possession of a controlled substance, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, speeding, and felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer. He appeals the denial of his motion to suppress and his conviction.

Arnold's motion to suppress was first heard in a probation revocation proceeding arising out of an earlier offense. The transcript of that proceeding was stipulated into evidence in this case so that Arnold's motion to suppress could be considered for the purposes of the trial. The arresting officer also testified.

This testimony shows that on the evening of October 21, 2010, Officer Josh Wages of the Walton County sheriff's office was traveling in his patrol car monitoring traffic for speeding on a section of Highway 138 in Walton County. Wages saw a grey Chevrolet driving at a high rate of speed in a 55 mile per hour zone. His radar indicated that the car was traveling at 72 miles per hour, so he initiated a traffic stop. Wages asked for and got Arnold's license and began talking to him when he observed a brown purse in the front passenger seat. Wages asked for consent to look inside the purse, which Arnold gave, and Arnold passed it to Wages. Inside, there were electrical fuses but no personal items. Wages returned to his patrol car, filled out a traffic citation, and performed a computer check of the license, which revealed that it was valid.

Wages returned to Arnold's car to issue the citation, but just prior to doing so, he shined his light inside the car and saw, from outside the car, one or two full-length cigar wrappers and one partially smoked and flattened cigar wrapper in a cup holder on the floor in the center [315 Ga.App. 799]of the car. He clarified that the wrapper was a “Swisher Sweet” wrapper that he described as “ just a cigar leaf [with which] you can roll your own tobacco”; he added, “It looks like the shell of a cigar” ... “with no insides in it.” Based on

[728 S.E.2d 319]

his past experience in law enforcement with drug identification, Wages believed the partially smoked item was a marijuana blunt. He had not smelled the odor of marijuana at this time.

Wages then asked Arnold to step out of the car, which he did, and he asked for consent to search Arnold's person and his pockets, which he gave. Wages then told Arnold of his suspicion about the marijuana, and he reached in the car, picked up the blunt, and smelled it, which led him to believe that it was, in fact, marijuana. At this point, Arnold said that it was his girlfriend's car (which the State conceded) and that she smokes marijuana, so it was hers. Wages told Arnold that he now had probable cause to search the car, which he proceeded to do. The search revealed marijuana and...