State v. Dymond, A00A2325.
| Decision Date | 28 February 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. A00A2325.,A00A2325. |
| Citation | 248 Ga. App. 582,546 S.E.2d 69 |
| Parties | The STATE v. DYMOND. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Gwendolyn R. Keyes, Solicitor, Lawrence A. Silverman, Thomas E. Csider, Assistant Solicitors, for appellant.
William C. Head, Atlanta, for appellee.
The trial court granted Julie Anne Dymond's motion to suppress, and, subsequently, under OCGA § 17-7-170(b), it also granted Dymond's motion for discharge and acquittal of her pending DUI charge. In so doing, the trial court found that the State failed to timely try the case in compliance with Dymond's demand for a speedy trial. In this appeal, the State contests the rulings on both motions. Because the trial court misconstrued and overlooked the applicable law, we reverse.
The underlying case arose from a single misdemeanor DUI charge against Dymond. The evidence shows that at 1:30 a.m. on July 8, 1999, DeKalb County law enforcement officers stopped Dymond at a traffic checkpoint and, ultimately, cited her for DUI. The State filed a single-count accusation on September 22, 1999, charging Dymond under OCGA § 40-6-391(a)(1) with driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent it was less safe for her to drive. On October 5, 1999, Dymond filed a motion to suppress, contending that the roadblock was unlawful and that all evidence obtained therefrom should be suppressed. Dymond argued that the traffic stop was pretextual, arbitrary, unreasonable, and violative of her federal and state constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. Asserting that an illegal search and seizure had occurred, Dymond sought the exclusion of all evidence. See OCGA § 17-5-30. Two months later, on December 7, 1999, Dymond filed a speedy trial demand.
On March 27, 2000, before the start of the scheduled trial, the court considered Dymond's motion to suppress. To attempt to satisfy its burden of establishing the propriety of the roadblock at issue, the State offered the testimony of Sergeant Mester. Mester, a unit supervisor of the Strategic Traffic Accident Reduction ("STAR") Team, testified that the placement of the roadblock or safety checkpoint had been his decision, executed at all times under the direct supervision of his superior, Lieutenant Mosley, the on-duty watch commander. Mester testified that between midnight and approximately 3:18 a.m., he and other members of his STAR team stopped every vehicle traveling in one direction on Chamblee Tucker Road, including taxis and MARTA buses. Mester explained that he lacked sufficient manpower to stop all traffic in both directions. The checkpoint was delineated by police vehicles using flashing blue lights, large green reflective signs advising "safety check ahead," and orange traffic cones. In addition, uncontradicted testimony indicated that the selection of the site was based on the occurrence of prior accidents and DUI arrests in that area.
According to Mester, the purpose of the safety checkpoint was "to identify impaired drivers and to get them off the road if they are impaired." Mester testified that the members of the STAR team had completed special training in the detection of impaired drivers. He noted that the officers also verified that drivers had valid driver's licenses and that most checks lasted less than 30 seconds. Mester testified that Lt. Mosley, the precinct commander, not only had been present during the operation but also had participated in it. During the three-hour period, the STAR team arrested Dymond and three other drivers for DUI. No one was arrested on any charge other than DUI.
In contesting the legality of the procedure, Dymond contended that since the roadblock was a sobriety checkpoint, the State had to prove the effectiveness of the roadblock in deterring drunk driving through the collection and maintenance of statistics. Dymond also argued that the roadblock was unlawful because the STAR team did not comply with certain written protocol in DeKalb County's employee handbook for traffic law enforcement. Section (h) of the handbook provides:
(1) A [DUI] roadblock will only be used when a specific need or public concern can be documented. For instance, a D.U.I. roadblock could only be established at locations which can be shown to have a higher than normal incidence of D.U.I. arrests or a higher D.U.I. accident rate. (2) Precinct Commanders authorizing roadblocks for the purpose of D.U.I. enforcement will document the need and supporting data for a roadblock at a specific location. Subsequent enforcement data (i.e., number of arrests, tickets) will be maintained and stored with the authorization at the precinct. This information will be maintained for a period of one year.
Mester, however, identified the handbook at issue as an employee manual and testified that it did not set forth "our standard operating procedure." No testimony showed otherwise.
Dymond asserted that the State failed to offer statistical or empirical data to prove the legality of the roadblock. When Mester was asked on cross-examination, "[a]nd in choosing this location, isn't it true that you did not use any type of known statistics for this area being a particularly problematic area for DUI drivers," Mester conceded he did not have specific numbers. Later, when asked if he had selected the site, "without the availability to you of any statistics about DUI arrests and accidents at that location," Mester responded, "I—like I said, I didn't have statistics, but I know there was [sic] lots of wrecks in that area and DUI arrests."
In granting Dymond's motion to suppress, the trial court relied upon guidelines appearing in the employee handbook. The trial court decided: "[s]ince there were guidelines in place for the roadblock for purposes of checking for DUI drivers and those guidelines were not met, this Court concludes that the roadblock was not reasonable under the circumstances in this case." The trial court also found the roadblock violated the Georgia Constitution.
1. The State contends that the trial court erred in granting Dymond's motion to suppress by incorrectly relying upon nonbinding provisions in a county employee handbook instead of following the applicable law of this State. We agree.
When reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress, if the evidence is uncontroverted and no question regarding the credibility of witnesses is presented, we do not defer to the trial court's legal analysis or its application of law to undisputed facts. State v. Stearns, 240 Ga.App. 806, 807, 524 S.E.2d 554 (1999). Rulings involving solely legal issues are reviewed de novo. Vansant v. State, 264 Ga. 319, 320(1), 443 S.E.2d 474 (1994).
In examining the propriety of roadblock stops, the issue is not whether there was probable cause to stop the vehicle, but whether the roadblock stop was LaFontaine v. State, 269 Ga. 251, 252(3), 497 S.E.2d 367 (1998). When there is evidence of unfettered discretion by field troopers, a showing that the roadblock was arbitrary or oppressive to motorists or indications that field officers created an arbitrary scheme to single out a motorist, routine traffic checks may fail to pass constitutional muster. Id. at 253(3), 497 S.E.2d 367.
(Citation omitted.) Brent v. State, 270 Ga. 160, 161-162(2), 510 S.E.2d 14 (1998). Since the roadblock at issue in this case comported with the five-factor test adopted in LaFontaine and Brent, the detention and subsequent arrest of Dymond were not unconstitutional. Brent v. State, 270 Ga. at 162(2), 510 S.E.2d 14.
The trial court, however, implemented a different legal standard for judging the legality of roadblocks. In finding the roadblock unlawful, the trial court scrutinized it under the provisions of an employee handbook. But Dymond cites no authority and we know of none which requires consideration of that handbook in deciding the propriety of the roadblock. The trial court's ruling was error.
2. The State contends that the trial court erred in granting Dymond's motion for discharge and acquittal because the trial court granted Dymond's motion to suppress and the State had a statutory right to appeal the ruling.
A defendant who has made a proper demand for a trial is entitled to an automatic discharge without further motion if he is not tried on the second term of court, provided that a jury is present at each term and is qualified to try him. Parker v. State, 135 Ga.App. 620, 621(3), 218 S.E.2d 324 (1975). However, a defendant may waive his right to automatic discharge and acquittal by some action on his part or on the part of his counsel. Id. at 621(4), 218 S.E.2d 324. "Any affirmative action" by a defendant which results in a continuance of the case or a failure to try it within the time fixed by statute after the filing of a speedy trial demand under OCGA § 17-7-170 has the effect of tolling the time. Letbedder v. State, 129 Ga.App. 196, 197, n. 1, 199 S.E.2d 270 (1973).
In State v. Waters, 170 Ga.App. 505, 508(3), 317 S.E.2d 614 (1984), this Court held:
Thus, by taking "affirmative action" on the issue of admissibility of certain evidence against him, a defendant who files a motion to suppress must be deemed to invoke the entire procedure applicable to that issue including the State's...
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