Jones v. State, A94A2432
| Decision Date | 28 February 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. A94A2432,A94A2432 |
| Citation | 454 S.E.2d 631,216 Ga.App. 449 |
| Parties | JONES v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Corinne M. Mull, Decatur, for appellant.
J. Tom Morgan, Dist. Atty., Barbara B. Conroy, Robert E. Statham III, Robert M. Coker, Asst. Dist. Attys., Decatur, for appellee.
Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and reserved the right to challenge on appeal the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress. Mims v. State, 201 Ga.App. 277, 278-279(1), 410 S.E.2d 824 (1991). This appeal is properly before this court for review since defendant's plea of guilty was entered within 30 days of official publication (July 9, 1994) of this court's decision in Hooten v. State, 212 Ga.App. 770(1), 775, 442 S.E.2d 836.
At about 1:50 in the morning on December 31, 1993, Officer C.P. LaRoche of the DeKalb County Police Department was on routine patrol in an area known for illegal drug activity. In darkness, the officer extinguished the lights of his patrol car and turned onto a street where he had made several prior arrests for illegal drug activity. The officer slowly coasted his police cruiser to a vacant lot and quietly stopped. He then suddenly illuminated the area with the headlights of his patrol car and exposed several individuals loitering around a parked car, including a suspected drug dealer known to Officer LaRoche as "Cash."
"Cash" sprang from the parked vehicle and fled into a nearby thicket as soon as Officer LaRoche illuminated the area. The officer then approached the scene and observed "four other subjects with the vehicle." Defendant "was seated in the middle rear seat of the vehicle." Officer LaRoche began questioning defendant and his associates, but defendant did not respond. Officer LaRoche then "noticed ... a bulge coming out of the left side of [defendant's] cheek." "At that point[, the officer] noticed that [defendant] kind of choaked (sic) like he was gagging...." ...." Officer LaRoche "asked [defendant] what was wrong [and defendant] told [the officer] he had a tooth ache." Officer LaRoche then observed several small plastic bags and bits of tissue paper emerging from defendant's mouth. Officer LaRoche asked defendant to "spit the stuff out." Defendant complied. "He spit some on the back seat [of the suspect vehicle] and some on the trunk of [Officer LaRoche's] police car." The plastic bags contained a substance which tested positive for cocaine. Held:
Defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, arguing that Officer LaRoche did not have reasonable suspicion to approach and detain him.
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