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Walker v. State

The police officer's observation of the defendant exiting school property after midnight did not amount to reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to support a second-tier investigation, and the defendant's flight after the officer's improper initiation of the second-tier investigatory detention did not support the additional offense of obstruction.

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A Houston County jury found Ernest Walker guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, OCGA § 16-13-30 b; and obstruction of a law enforcement officer, OCGA § 16-10-24 a. Walker appeals, challenging the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress and its grant of the State’s motion to quash subpoenas. For the following reasons, we reverse.

1. Walker contends that he was subjected to an investigatory detention when an officer stopped him as he stepped off the premises of an elementary school and instructed him to remove his hands from his pockets. Walker contends that the officer lacked a particularized and objective basis for suspecting that he was involved in criminal activity, as required for such a stop, and that, in the absence of any reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity, he was entitled to refuse to comply with the officer’s demands and to end the encounter by running away from the officer. Because the officer lacked a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity, Walker contends, the detention violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unlawful searches and seizures, and the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress a quantity of cocaine and other drug-related items that were obtained as a result of the illegal detention.

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