A jury found Gary Eugene Brown, Jr., guilty of one misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer.1 He appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial, contending that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction. Specifically, he contends that the State failed to carry its burden of showing that the police officer was acting lawfully at the time of Brown’s arrest, as required by OCGA § 16-10-24 a. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict,2 the evidence shows that on July 13, 2008, an officer with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department stopped the vehicle in which Brown was a passenger because no license tag was displayed. When the vehicle stopped, Brown immediately got out and approached the police car. The officer, who could smell alcohol on Brown, told Brown to get back in the passenger side of the car, but instead, Brown began moving toward the driver’s side. The officer again told Brown to get in the car on the passenger side, and Brown refused, instead continuing to approach the driver’s side of the vehicle. The officer testified that after Brown came back from the driver’s side of the car, he called Brown to him, but that when Brown “showed aggression,” he concluded Brown “was dangerous.” As the only law enforcement officer on the scene, for his own safety, the officer had called Brown to him intending to perform a patdown. He first asked Brown for identification, but Brown did not have any. The officer then asked Brown if he had any weapons. Brown said no. When the officer asked Brown for consent to search, Brown consented. However, when the officer told Brown he was going to pat him down, Brown began to reach into his pocket, and the officer, unsure of whether he had a weapon, grabbed Brown’s hand and told him not to put it in his pocket. Brown became belligerent, and the officer testified that Brown “snatched away” from him. The officer then pulled out his taser and placed it on Brown, but did not tase him. He told Brown to put his hands behind his back “because I’m not gonna fight with nobody on the side of the road.” The officer then put his taser away and retrieved his handcuffs. As he approached Brown again, the officer testified that Brown swung “around with his elbow as I come to him then, and he tries to hit me again.” The officer handcuffed Brown and arrested the driver of the vehicle, who was underage and driving without a license or proper tag.
