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The Statev.Christopher Dakota Perry

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A18A2110
DecidedMarch 13, 2019
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CriminalCriminal ProcedureFourth AmendmentSearch and SeizureEvidenceReversalRemand
Case Summary

Christopher Dakota Perry faced several driving-related charges after an off-duty officer reported a possible drunk driver. A deputy located Perry’s white sport utility vehicle matching the description and license plate in the broadcast, followed it, and stopped it after observing additional circumstances. The trial court suppressed all evidence from the stop for lack of reasonable articulable suspicion. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. It held that the objectively matching broadcast itself supplied reasonable suspicion for the traffic stop. Because that conclusion resolved the suppression appeal, the court did not need to decide whether Perry also failed to maintain his lane or whether that observation independently justified the stop. The decision emphasizes that the validity of a seizure depends on objective facts known to the officer at the time, not later characterizations of those facts at the suppression hearing.

Opinion

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The State V. Christopher Dakota Perry — The Atlanta Gleaner