Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

194 Ga. App. 303

Freeman v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia

Decided January 23, 1990

Court of Appeals of Georgia · decided 1990-01-23

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently July 2011

4 state decisions

Relies on 193 Ga. App. 2 - State v. Webb · 191 Ga. App. 364 - Evans v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1990-01-23

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Carley, Chief Judge.

¶1Appellant was tried before a jury and found guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He appeals from the judgment of conviction and sentence entered by the trial court on the jury’s verdict.

¶21. The trial court’s denial of appellant’s motion to suppress is enumerated as error.

¶3The trial court was authorized to find the following: An officer stopped appellant’s vehicle. This stop was based upon the officer’s articulable suspicion that appellant was committing a non-moving traffic offense. In violation of OCGA § 40-2-38, the license plate on appellant’s vehicle was not plainly visible and the officer could not determine, without stopping appellant, whether the vehicle was being operated in violation of OCGA § 40-2-8 (b) and (c). During the course of this investigatory stop, the officer observed cocaine in plain view in appellant’s automobile.

¶4On this evidence, the trial court clearly was correct in denying appellant’s motion to suppress. The original stop of the automobile was authorized and the subsequent seizure of contraband which was in the officer’s plain view did not violate appellant’s Fourth Amendment rights. State v. Webb, 193 Ga. App. 2 (1, 2) (386 SE2d 891) (1989).

¶52. “The jury resolved the conflicting versions of the events against [appellant], and the evidence was sufficient to enable any rational trier of fact to find [him] guilty of [possession of cocaine with intent to distribute] beyond a reasonable doubt. [Cit.]” Evans v. State, 191 Ga. App. 364-365 (1) (381 SE2d 760) (1989).

¶6Judgment affirmed.

McMurray, P. J., and Beasley, J., concur.
/194/gaapp/303 · .json · Public domain