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Vaughn v. State

Although the officer gave the defendant a warning citation before requesting consent to search his vehicle and person, the detention was lawful because the officer was still investigating his reasonable suspicion of criminal activity based on discrepancies in the rental agreement for the car the defendant was driving.

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Darren Lamont Vaughn was tried in a bench trial and convicted of violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act and of trafficking in cocaine. He appeals, arguing in his sole enumeration of error that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. For the following reasons, we reject his argument and affirm. At the suppression hearing, Deputy Brett Dever of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office testified that he was working traffic enforcement on Interstate 20 in Douglas County at about 1:30 p.m. on March 16, 2001. While traveling west on I-20, he saw Vaughn following too close to a vehicle in front of him. Dever moved over to the far right lane in order to stop Vaughn for the violation, but Vaughn slowed down and would not pass Dever. Eventually, after Dever slowed to 50 mph, Vaughn passed him and then Dever also noticed that Vaughn was not maintaining his lane. Accordingly, Dever stopped Vaughn for two violations: following too closely and failure to maintain his lane. Dever suspected that the driver of the car was intoxicated; thus, he activated the blue lights on his vehicle, which then activated the video recording system on his patrol car. The videotape was played at trial and admitted as evidence.

The recording of the events that followed established that Dever asked Vaughn for his driver’s license and for proof of insurance. He also asked Vaughn where he was headed. Vaughn told Dever that he was on his way to Alabama. Dever asked why Vaughn was traveling that day; Vaughn responded that he needed to bring his son back to Norcross and that he needed to return the car. Dever then asked if Vaughn had been drinking and Vaughn said that he had not.

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