Hodge v. State of Ga.

Cecil Ray Hodge, Jr. appeals the forfeiture of his 1993 Mercedes and 1994 Chevy Blazer pursuant to OCGA § 16-13-49 and the denial of his Motion to Suppress filed in that forfeiture action. Finding no error, we affirm.

The facts of the case are undisputed. In late February 2001, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department received an anonymous letter postmarked February 23, 2001. The letter stated, “To the good guys. There is a two story apartment behind 2408 Williams Street near ASU that you should take a look inside. I would not delay. Time is of the essence. Have a nice day.” Acting upon this letter, narcotics investigator Phares visited the address. The main house at this address was under renovation and located behind it was a two-story building containing upstairs and downstairs apartments. When Phares approached the front door of the downstairs apartment and knocked, he was overwhelmed by the smell of what he identified as marijuana coming from underneath the door. Receiving no response to his knocking, Phares started knocking on windows and observed the electric meter on the side of the house. The electric meter for the upstairs apartment was spinning very fast in comparison to the lower apartment indicating to the officer that an indoor marijuana growing operation might be present at the residence. Phares called a canine unit to the scene for further investigation and, upon arrival, the narcotics dog immediately alerted to the presence of narcotics at the front door of the lower apartment. Phares then ascended a set of exterior stairs to the upper apartment and again noticed the strong smell of marijuana.