Following a jury trial, Jerry Tidwell was found guilty of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug-related objects. On appeal, Tidwell contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, and in finding that OCGA § 16-13-32.2 possession of drug-related objects is constitutional. Because we find that the trial court erred in denying Tidwell’s motion to suppress, we reverse. The record reveals that on February 13, 2007, investigators from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office were attempting to serve an outstanding arrest warrant on William Blackwell at the Lanier Livestock Auction in Forsyth County. Investigator Michael McCarron and the other investigators of the Sheriff’s Office had previously arrested Blackwell at this site and therefore hoped to find Blackwell on the premises once again.
On McCarron’s previous visit to the Livestock Auction, one of the employees, Darryl Moore, had presented himself as the shop foreman of the facility. Moore had a personal room at the facility, where he lived with his girlfriend. McCarron asked Moore for permission to search his room. McCarron received permission from Moore to search the room, but did not find Blackwell there. McCarron then asked Moore for permission to search the remainder of the facility, and Moore granted such permission.1 McCarron then walked to the common area of the facility, where he came across a sectioned-off area that “looked like a bathroom stall” with two posts marking its front entrance. A three or four foot wall obscured the view of a portion of the stall-like area, and McCarron looked over the top of this wall to see what was contained in the stall. The stall also had a half door at its entrance made out of plywood. McCarron saw a foam sleeping pad in the stall, as well as a grey filing cabinet and a tall wooden wall locker that was just outside of the stall and to the left of the bed. The sleeping pad had a bag of clothes on it, and McCarron was informed that the area was a “sleeping quarters for an individual.” Tidwell was the individual who had built the wooden locker and who used the stall area as his living quarters for four days of each week while he served as a foreman at the Livestock Auction. The wooden locker had a “hasp lock that was kind of partially closed,” but the locker door was not locked. The lock to be used for the locker was located next to the locker itself, and Tidwell had the key to this lock on his key chain.
