Background

• Blakely charged with possession of cocaine, two counts of obstruction, and DUI; suppression denied; bench trial verdict: guilty on possession and both obstruction counts, not guilty on DUI.
• Suppression standard: de novo review for undisputed facts; mixed questions of fact and law reviewed with deference to trial findings on disputed facts.
• April 19, 2008, sobriety checkpoint in Elbert County; Blakely approached roadblock, turned into a driveway, backed out, and drove away.
• Officer Bennett believed Blakely evaded the checkpoint, followed and initiated a traffic stop; odor of alcohol detected; field test positive; Blakely resisted arrest, tasered, handcuffed.
• Search incident to arrest revealed cocaine in Blakely’s sock; Blakely testified he didn’t see the checkpoint and had turned around to retrieve his wallet.
• On appeal, Blakely challenged the stop as lacking reasonable suspicion; the trial court’s denial of suppression was upheld because the record showed evasive actions consistent with avoiding the roadblock.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Jorgensen v. State, 207 Ga. App. 545 (1993) (intuition alone cannot justify a stop; must be articulable facts showing evasion)
• Jones v. State, 291 Ga. 35 (2012) (no reasonable suspicion where no abrupt driving or other evasion evidence)
• Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) (establishes reasonable suspicion standard for investigative stops)
• Richards v. State, 257 Ga. App. 358 (2002) (articulable suspicion supported by roadblock evasion maneuvers)
• Taylor v. State, 249 Ga. App. 733 (2001) (driving maneuvers after roadblock can justify stop)