Hale v. State

Following a bench trial, the trial judge found Traci Hale guilty of “laying drags,” defined in OCGA § 40-6-251 as causing a vehicle to move in a zigzag or circular course or to gyrate or spin around. Hale appeals, alleging the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. We agree and reverse Hale’s conviction. Viewed in a light most favorable to support the trial judge’s verdict, the evidence shows that on October 11, 2002, at approximately 1:30 a.m., an officer less than one block away heard someone allegedly “laying drags.” The sound, consisting of an engine and screeching tires, created a disturbance throughout the neighborhood. The officer immediately circled the block and arrived at Hale’s location in less than thirty seconds. At that time, the officer observed Hale driving a car that had just come to a stop on the street.

As the officer approached Hale, he saw burnt oil and burnt rubber smoke coming from the engine and tires of Hale’s car. In addition, Hale’s car was on top of approximately fifty feet of skid or drag marks that went “forward and back.” The officer described these multiple drag marks as heavy, thick and black. These marks were all located in front of Hale’s home, a residential neighborhood with approximately one hundred houses on the street. The officer testified that he had no doubt in his mind that Hale’s car made the skid marks and that there were no other cars on the road at that time of night.