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GA: Officers' lack of awareness of a bond search condition did not permit reliance on it by court

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers working a high crime area with a drug dog. They saw defendant and smelled burnt marijuana. They asked for consent and were refused, so they searched anyway. The trial court sustained the search because defendant was on a bond condition that permitted searches, even though the officers were unaware of it. Remanded for consideration of the officer's lack of knowledge of the bond condition. Cantrell v. State, 2009 Ga. App. LEXIS 58 (January 23, 2009).* Defendant was stopped for a traffic offense and nearly immediately consented. The evidence supported the trial court's finding of consent, and the court distinguished defendant's authority (State v. Morelock, 851 S.W.2d 838, 840 (Tenn.1992)) where that defendant consented after five requests for consent...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 30, 2009 (boomark / email).