Pollack v. State

Following a bench trial, Kevin Leroy Pollack was found guilty of trafficking in cocaine, trafficking in marijuana, and following too closely. He appeals the denial of his motion to suppress. For reasons that follow, we affirm. In reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, we accept the trial court’s findings of fact and determinations of witness credibility unless they are clearly erroneous, and we construe the evidence in favor of the trial court’s ruling and affirm if there is any evidence to support the ruling.1 So viewed, the evidence shows that on July 17, 2006, Trooper Kevin Turner of the Georgia State Patrol was contacted by Trooper Dallas VanScoten, who asked him to go to Cobb County to assist him with a traffic stop of a convicted felon who was reportedly in possession of several firearms. Trooper Turner was told to be on the lookout for a 2005 Chrysler 300, with a specific license plate number, and advised that the vehicle would be going to a gym near Barrett Parkway. Trooper VanScoten drove his patrol car to Trooper Turner’s location near the Interstate 75 exit ramp at Barrett Parkway, where both officers observed Pollack’s vehicle.

The troopers followed Pollack’s vehicle as he turned off of the highway exit ramp. Turner testified that Pollack was following another vehicle at the “unsafe distance” of six feet while traveling approximately 30 miles per hour. According to Turner, he also observed that Pollack’s windows were darkly tinted. Pollack turned into the parking lot of a gym, and Turner activated his blue lights and followed him into the parking lot.