Damarcus Arnez Smith was found guilty in a bench trial of burglary and possession of cocaine. On appeal, Smith claims: 1 that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained when police stopped and searched his car; and 2 that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. For the following reasons, we affirm. The resident of a house located in the City of Reynolds in Taylor County, Georgia reported to police that his house had been burglarized and that various items had been stolen, including some large jars containing about $3,500 in coins and the keys to Ray’s Paint & Body Shop, a business run by the resident’s father. A neighbor living next door to the burglarized house reported to police that, on the day of the burglary, she saw an unfamiliar gray colored car coming out of the driveway of the house. Officer Carpenter of the Taylor County sheriff’s department testified that, during his investigation of the burglary, he received information that, shortly after the burglary, an individual cashed in over $300.00 in coins at a local Kroger store. The officer testified that he reviewed videotapes from the store’s security cameras covering the inside of the store and the parking area which showed that the coins were cashed by two individuals driving a gray Mustang with chrome wheels. Because a large sum of coins had been stolen in the burglary and a gray car had been seen leaving the scene of the burglary, the officer issued a county-wide “be on the lookout” bulletin for a gray Mustang with chrome wheels.
A day after the bulletin was issued, a car matching the description in the bulletin was spotted not far from the burglarized residence and was stopped by officer Burch of the City of Reynolds police department. After making the stop, officer Burch told the driver of the car, later identified as Smith, to wait for officer Carpenter to arrive. Shortly thereafter, officer Carpenter arrived at the scene of the stop and told Smith he had been stopped because he was suspected of being involved in a burglary. Officer Carpenter recognized Smith as one of the individuals he had seen on video cashing coins at the Kroger store. The officer also noticed that the tread on the gray Mustang’s tires appeared to match tire tracks he had seen at the burglarized house and had preserved by plaster cast. Officer Carpenter asked Smith if he would consent to a search of his car and Smith consented. Smith testified at trial and admitted that officer Carpenter explained to him that he had the right to refuse to consent to the search and that anything found in the search could be used to incriminate him. Smith said he gave officer Carpenter permission to search his car, but added that he felt like the consent he gave was not voluntary because he was intimidated by the number of people at the stop.
