Background

• Mincher was charged with DUI per se (under 21), DUI less safe, and making an improper right turn; motion to suppress the stop was granted.
• Around 4:30 a.m. on December 19, 2010, Mincher’s vehicle approached the intersection of Highway 278 and Highway 113 in Rockmart, stopping before the stop line when the light was red.
• Mincher decided to turn right onto Highway 113 to reach a gas station, signaling and looking to ensure no traffic in the right-turn lane before proceeding, but she was not in the dedicated right-turn lane.
• A Rockmart police officer, traveling with the same direction, observed Mincher’s right turn and initiated a traffic stop, turning his lights as she pulled into the gas station.
• During the stop, the officer smelled alcohol, Mincher denied drinking, an alco-sensor test indicated alcohol consumption by a minor, and she performed field sobriety tests before being arrested for DUI.
• The trial court granted Mincher’s motion to suppress, and the State appealed arguing the stop was justified by reasonable articulable suspicion; the Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the stop was not based on a lawful traffic offense.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1968) (established tiers of police-citizen encounters and need for reasonable suspicion for stops)
• Groves v. State, 306 Ga.App. 779 (Ga. App. 2010) (dose of framework for brief investigative stops)
• Darden v. State, 293 Ga.App. 127 (Ga. App. 2008) (reiterates reasonable suspicion standard for stops)
• State v. Morgan, 260 Ga.App. 263 (Ga. App. 2003) (trial court could find lack of illegal right turn and no reasonable articulable suspicion)
• Hammont v. State, 309 Ga.App. 395 (Ga. App. 2011) (treatment of findings on motion to suppress)