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Martinv.State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A23A1421
DecidedJanuary 2, 2024
Reporter370 Ga. App. 275; 896 S.E.2d 874; 2024 Ga. App. LEXIS 1
JudgesMCFADDEN, Presiding Judge. Brown and Markle, JJ., concur.
Tags
CriminalControlled SubstancesFourth AmendmentProbation SearchShared ResidenceMotion to SuppressIneffective Assistance of Counsel
Case Summary

Wayne Martin was convicted of three drug-possession counts after his girlfriend’s probation officer searched a bedroom they shared and found drugs in a bag beside the bed. His girlfriend had waived Fourth Amendment rights as a condition of probation, recently tested positive for methamphetamine, and given her officer an address different from the residence where she was actually staying. Martin was present during the search but did not expressly object. The Court of Appeals affirmed denial of suppression, holding that the officer had a good-faith basis to search to monitor probation and could rely on the probationer’s waiver to search the shared room because Martin did not expressly refuse consent. The court deemed Martin’s separate challenge to his temporary detention abandoned because he did not develop it on appeal. Pretermitting whether counsel performed deficiently in litigating suppression, the court found no prejudice because the search was lawful. The convictions and sentence were affirmed.

Opinion

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