The State appeals from the trial court’s grant of the motion to suppress filed by defendants Jack Barnett, Jamie B. Chaves, and C. Lauriston McLeod.1 Because the trial court correctly concluded that the “no-knock” provision in the search warrant was unsupported by particular facts and circumstances justifying the need for its use and that no exigent circumstances were shown, we affirm. On August 19, 2010, a narcotics agent for the Fayette County sheriff’s office obtained a “no-knock” warrant to search a house in Fayetteville, Georgia. In the affidavit in support of the warrant, he stated that on August 19, 2010, he searched the trash receptacle on the curb in front of the residence and found marijuana, “blunt” wrappers, and rolling papers containing marijuana residue. A records check performed by the agent indicated that McLeod and Chaves lived there. In support of the “no-knock” provision of the warrant, the agent stated: It has been the experience of this affiant that subjects package there sic illegal narcotics in ways to be easily destroyed. It has also been the experience of this affiant that subjects often possess weapons to protect there sic illegal narcotics. To save the illegal narcotics from being destroyed and for the safety of the officers involved the affiant would ask for a No-Knock Provision to be added to the search warrant. Based on investigation and background information from the affiant, a search warrant is requested for the above address. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the agent acknowledged that this was “like a boilerplate,” but that another part of the affidavit included information regarding a firearm. This portion of the affidavit stated that five months earlier, on March 17, 2010, the agent obtained information from a sheriff’s deputy who had spoken to a school system social worker who had visited the residence to check on the welfare of the children. The social worker told the deputy that she observed a black male with dreadlocks, whom she believed to be McLeod, with a gun in his jacket. The narcotics agent acknowledged that during surveillance of the residence between March and August, he did not discover or observe any firearms. His investigation did not reveal any weapons permits issued to the occupants of the house. He also acknowledged that he had not met the social worker, although he spoke with her on the telephone, and he stated that she was “not reliable to me.”
The no-knock warrant was executed on August 25, 2010, and marijuana was found on the premises. The return on the warrant does not show that any firearm was discovered. Appellees were charged with misdemeanor possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. The trial court granted appellees’ motion to suppress, finding that the presence of illegal drugs alone was insufficient to support a no-knock provision, that the information regarding a firearm was stale, and that no exigent circumstances justified a no-knock search. From this order, the State appeals. See OCGA § 5-7-1 a 4.
