State v. Goolsby

The arresting officer had reasonable grounds to believe that defendant was an impaired driver when he arrested defendant for failure to maintain lane.

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The State Court of Stephens County granted Cameron Goolsby’s motion to suppress the results of his intoxilyzer breath test because the arresting officer did not have probable cause to arrest Goolsby for DUI prior to the administration of the test. The State appeals. Finding clear error in the trial court’s conclusions, we reverse. Goolsby did not testify at the motion to suppress. The only evidence adduced therein was from the arresting officer, Corporal Margaret Dawson with the Toccoa Police Department. The evidence of record shows that, at approximately 1:00 a.m. on August 27, 1999, Corporal Dawson observed Goolsby’s vehicle traveling east on Currahee Street in Toccoa. Dawson testified at the suppression hearing that Goolsby made an exceptionally wide right-hand turn onto Broad Street. Dawson followed Goolsby; she saw him clearly cross over the double yellow line on Broad Street. It was after this failure to maintain a lane violation that Dawson activated a video camera mounted in her vehicle, which recorded the remainder of the incident. The record before this Court includes the videotape. The trial court found that the videotape and Dawson’s testimony regarding the incident “are not significantly inconsistent.”

The officer continued to follow Goolsby’s truck. The tape shows that, on at least three occasions, Goolsby’s truck crossed onto and over the yellow line dividing the road, the most glaring example occurring when Goolsby drove over a set of railroad tracks at a grade crossing. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the trial court made a specific finding that “when he crossed the railroad tracks up there. To me that was a significant significant departure from the lane given the fact that the lane’s fairly wide.”

State v. Goolsby

The arresting officer had reasonable grounds to believe that defendant was an impaired driver when he arrested defendant for failure to maintain lane.

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