Taylor v. StateTaylor v. State
Donna Taylor was convicted after a bench trial of trafficking in methamphetamine,
On appeal from a motion to suppress, the evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to upholding the trial court’s judgment. The credibility of witnesses and the weight accorded their testimony “rest with the trier of fact, who is under no obligation to believe a witness, even in the absence of contradictory testimony.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.)
Anderson v. State,
On February 10, 1996, after conducting surveillance, investigators with the Gordon County Sheriff’s Office stopped Donna Taylor as she drove away from the residence of a reliable confidential informant (“Cl”). Based on the earlier surveillance and information obtained moments before the arrest during a telephone conversation with the Cl, the investigators believed Taylor was then in possession of at least an ounce of methamphetamine. The Cl told the investigators that Taylor had the drugs “down in her pants, not in her pants pocket.” Moreover, the Cl reported that before Taylor left the residence, she prepared a sample of the drug for his use, leaving a mixture of methamphetamine and water in a syringe. During a consent search of Taylor’s truck, the investigators found electronic scales, a facial compact containing a white powdery substance, two spoons, T-shirts bearing the acronym “S.L.U.T.,” which stands for “Stop Legalized Urine Testing,” and a concealed .25 caliber pistol. Taylor was placed under arrest for possessing the pistol and transported to the Gordon County Jail.
When Taylor was booked into the jail, a female dispatcher employed by the Sheriff’s Office searched Taylor pursuant to instructions from one of the investigators and in accordance with jail policy. In a private room, the dispatcher asked Taylor to disrobe. As Taylor complied, the dispatcher noticed a large bulge in Taylor’s underwear. The dispatcher retrieved from Taylor’s underwear a paper towel-wrapped package containing 57.4 grams of methamphetamine. Taylor testified that the dispatcher forcibly recovered the methamphetamine during a body cavity search. Upon finding the methamphetamine, the investigators sought and obtained a warrant to take samples of Taylor’s blood and urine to test for the presence of drugs. The test results were positive for methamphetamine and diazepam.
*859 Taylor argues that the methamphetamine evidence should be suppressed because it was obtained following an illegal body cavity search. Moreover, she argues that her blood and urine test results should be suppressed because the warrant which authorized taking the test samples was based upon and tainted by the earlier seizure of methamphetamine. We do not agree.
To entertain Taylor’s argument that she was subjected to an illegal body cavity search, we must conclude the court found that such a search occurred. The trial court, however, in findings issued from the bench, specifically credited the testimony of the employee who searched Taylor. The court found that Taylor was strip-searched by a female jail employee who “in plain view . . . observed a bulge under [Taylor’s] clothes.” The court did not believe Taylor’s testimony that she was subjected to a more invasive body cavity search, and we are bound by that finding. See,
e.gAnderson v. State,
1. Taylor’s strip search was lawful for two reasons:
(a) Taylor was arrested for illegally possessing a firearm, a serious criminal offense. She does not contest the legality of that arrest. Once a defendant has been placed under custodial arrest, police may conduct a search of his or her person.
United States v. Robinson,
Based upon the evidence then available, the investigators reasonably believed that Taylor had a large quantity of methamphetamine concealed in her pants, contraband she could discard or destroy at the first available opportunity. Police are authorized to use reasonable measures to prevent the destruction or concealment of evidence. See
Merriweather v. State,
(b) Taylor was strip-searched as part of an inventory search incident to her admission into the prison population. The United States Supreme Court has held that pre-trial detainees may be subjected to strip searches and “visual body cavity inspections” on less than probable cause when, applying a balancing test, the need for the particular search outweighs the detainee’s privacy interest and the search is conducted in a reasonable place and manner.
Bell v. Wolfish,
441U. S. 520, 559-560 (III) (D) (99 SC 1861, 60 LE2d 447) (1979); see also
United States v. Edwards,
The trial court found that Taylor’s search was conducted in a private room by a female jail employee. We find no case or statutory law that requires the female who searched Taylor to be a certified police officer. The search was performed at the direction of a police officer who had reason to believe that Taylor had contraband hidden beneath her clothes. The search was conducted in a reasonable manner, and it did serve the legitimate purposes of preserving evidence of crime and of keeping contraband from the prison population. The search was proper. See
Bell v. Wolfish,
2. Because the strip search was lawful, it did not taint the subsequent warranted search and seizure of Taylor’s blood and urine samples. See
State v. Wright,
Judgment affirmed.