Uva v. State, 46527
| Decision Date | 29 September 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 46527,No. 3,46527,3 |
| Citation | 124 Ga.App. 486,184 S.E.2d 200 |
| Parties | Charles M. UVA v. The STATE |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Grogan, Jones & Layfield, James A. Elkins, Jr., John C. Swearinger, Jr., Columbus, for appellant.
E. Mullins Whisnant, Dist. Atty., William J. Smith, Columbus, for appellee.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
The sole question on this appeal is whether it was error to deny a motion to suppress evidence obtained by a search of the defendant made prior to his arrest and without the benefit of a search warrant.
Defendant was searched and then arrested by Officer Vasquez of the Columbus police department, assigned to the narcotics squad. A place known as the Toadstool was operated for the teen-age group, open only on Friday and Saturday nights with a band. It opens about 7 p.m., the band starts playing around 9 o'clock and it closes before midnight, usually about 11:30 p.m. Several arrests for drug violations had been made in its vicinity, and Officer Vasquez was checking the situation on the night of March 6. It was a rainy night. Several people were standing around the doorway when he came up at approximately 10 p.m. As the officer approached the doorway defendant's back was turned toward him. The officer heard defendant say something, which he did not or could not understand, to a young man standing nearby, in response to which the young man said 'No, man, I don't want to buy anything.' Nothing else was said.
Officer Vasquez took defendant by the arm and led him to a place next door, telling him to keep his hands away from his pockets. Upon arrival next door the officer 'patted down' the defendant, finding no evidence of arms or weapons on him, but did discover a 'small bulge' under his shirt jacket, and upon lifting the jacket he saw a small box 'similar in size to a box of paper clips,' which he removed and opened, discovering 37 small maroon capsules. (The evidence does not reveal the nature of the contents of the capsules.) Defendant was thereupon placed under arrest.
The officer's testimony indicates that he was checking the vicinity of the Toadstool because there had been complaints of drug sales in its vicinity, and there had been several arrests there for drug violations.
There were no bulges about his person to indicate that he possessed weapons or that he was armed. This the policeman admitted, though he asserted that he 'patted down' the defendant 'for my protection,' and in doing so discovered the drugs.
He had never seen the defendant before, and had no reports on him concerning any illegal activity. He did testify that the words used by the man in an apparent reply to defendant carried a connotation on the streets, and particularly among...
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Brewer v. State, 48070
...The motion to suppress should have been sustained. Cf. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889.' Uva v. State, 124 Ga.App. 486, 487, 184 S.E.2d 200, 201. 'It is axiomatic that an incident search may not precede an arrest and serve as part of its justification. E.g., Henry v......
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State v. Delmondo, 5299
...knowledge was insufficient to provide the officer with probable cause to believe that a crime was being committed. In Uva v. State, 124 Ga.App. 486, 184 S.E.2d 200 (1971), the officer testified that he had heard a young man tell the defendant 'No, man, I don't want to buy anything,' at a pu......
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Kelly v. State, 48124
...4. The motion to suppress should have been sustained because of the warrantless arrest and the lack of probable cause. Uva v. State, 124 Ga.App. 486, 184 S.E.2d 200; Bethea v. State, 127 Ga.App. 97, 192 S.E.2d Judgment reversed. HALL, P.J., and EVANS, J., concur. ...
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Barrett v. State, A93A1914
...unlawful drugs [were] discovered during the search ... gave no cause for either the arrest or the search. [Cits.]" Uva v. State, 124 Ga.App. 486, 487, 184 S.E.2d 200 (1971). The judgment denying the motion to suppress is reversed, and the case is remanded to allow Barrett to withdraw his pl......