A Stephens County jury found Keldon Strickland guilty of trafficking in cocaine, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, obstruction of an officer, and operating a vehicle without a valid license tag. He appeals and claims the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because the drugs at issue were found pursuant to a stop of his vehicle at an illegal roadblock. As will be discussed below, we agree with Strickland that the roadblock was unconstitutional but find that the discovery of the drugs was sufficiently attenuated from any illegal stop so as render the drugs admissible. Accordingly, we affirm Strickland’s conviction. A homicide occurred in Toccoa at a residence located in the Pond and Franklin Streets area; the victim had been shot, and his body was found on January 26, 2002. Officers from the Toccoa Police Department enlisted the aid of T. Attaway from the GBI1 to investigate. Subsequently, they experienced little success in identifying the perpetrator. A week after the murder, the officers decided to canvass the intersection of Pond and Franklin Streets at the same time of night that it had been reported gun shots were heard the week before, i.e., sometime between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. Agent Attaway testified at the suppression hearing that the officers’ efforts included, stopping people walking on the roads and stopping people traveling by right in that general area to see if somebody might have saw something, or heard a gunshot, or something of that nature. And that’s what we were there for. Was everybody that came through the Pond Street area and the Franklin Street area either walking or driving in a car we were asking them did you hear anything, were you in this area last week. The only goal for stopping individuals “was to attempt to identify additional leads that would might identify who’s responsible for the death of the victim.” The intersection of Pond Street and Franklin Street where cars were stopped was clearly marked by patrol cars with flashing blue lights. The location was directly across the street from the murder scene. The five or six Toccoa police officers manning the roadblock were in uniform.
At approximately 10:50 p.m., appellant Strickland drove up to the area. It is undisputed that Strickland stopped his vehicle in the street before reaching the roadblock. An officer recognized his Cadillac and informed the others of his presence in the area. Apparently, Strickland had known the victim, and the officers had been wanting to talk to him about the case; there at the scene, Toccoa Police Lieutenant P. Moricz had a large picture of Strickland in order to help identify him on the chance he might be seen that night and could be questioned. Moricz testified at the hearing that Strickland was a “suspect in the murder case” and “we motioned him to pull over.” Strickland pulled into a parking lot on Franklin Street.
