Walker v. State
323 Ga. App. 558
Ga. Ct. App.2013Background
- Late at night near Pearl Stephens Elementary, an officer searched for a suspected motorcycle thief; Walker was seen on school grounds shortly after midnight.
- The officer approached Walker; Walker put his hands in his sweatshirt pockets and the officer ordered him to remove them.
- The officer escalated the encounter, declaring Walker not free to leave; Walker ran, threw a pill bottle and paper towel along the route, and was chased and tasered.
- Officers recovered a pill bottle bearing Walker’s name that contained solid cocaine, a crack pipe wrapped in a paper towel, a clothespin, and a pocket knife found near Walker.
- Walker was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and obstruction; he moved to suppress the seized evidence and issued subpoenas for the tangible evidence; the trial court denied suppression and quashed the subpoenas.
- The Court of Appeals reversed suppression (majority) and held the subpoena-quash ruling incorrect in principle though remanded guidance for future motions; three-judge dissent would have affirmed both trial court rulings.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether officer’s command to remove hands and thus brief detention was a lawful investigatory stop supported by reasonable suspicion | Walker: officer lacked particularized, objective suspicion; encounter escalated improperly to a Terry stop, so detention and subsequent evidence were tainted | State: presence on school grounds after midnight gave reasonable suspicion of trespass/criminal activity justifying a brief detention and officer safety measures | Court: reversed — officer lacked articulable suspicion to escalate; detention was unlawful and evidence was fruit of the poisonous tree (suppressed) |
| Whether items discarded during flight were voluntarily abandoned such that suppression is unwarranted | Walker: abandonment was caused by illegal detention; therefore taint remained and evidence must be suppressed | State: items were abandoned in flight and recovered from ground, so no Fourth Amendment protection | Court: majority — abandonment was not voluntary because it directly resulted from an unlawful stop; evidence remained tainted and should be suppressed |
| Whether the trial court properly quashed defense subpoenas for physical evidence after defendant opted into reciprocal discovery | Walker: quashing was error because subpoena power remains available even if defendant elected reciprocal discovery | State: made evidence available for inspection per the Discovery Act and subpoenas to require courthouse production were unreasonable and oppressive | Court: reversed trial court’s broad ruling that subpoenas were inappropriate solely because defendant opted into Act; established burdens for future quash motions but remanded guidance (quash may be appropriate depending on relevancy and oppression) |
Key Cases Cited
- Brown v. State, 301 Ga. App. 82 (appellate decision discussing escalation from consensual encounter to Terry stop)
- Ewumi v. State, 315 Ga. App. 656 (flight after a provoked escalation cannot justify reasonable suspicion; discarded evidence tainted)
- Teal v. State, 282 Ga. 319 (exclusionary rule and fruit-of-the-poisonous-tree principles)
- Burgess v. State, 290 Ga. App. 24 (factual instances where presence on property and reports supported reasonable suspicion)
- State v. Harris, 261 Ga. App. 119 (no reasonable suspicion where facts did not objectively indicate criminal activity)
- Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119 (headlong flight can be a factor in reasonable-suspicion analysis when not provoked)
- United States v. Maryland, 479 F.2d 566 (5th Cir.) (attenuation and nexus between police illegality and discovery of evidence)
- United States v. Beck, 602 F.2d 726 (5th Cir.) (abandonment not voluntary if prompted by illegal police conduct)