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Chiasson v. State

The officer had probable cause to stop defendant to investigate his compliance with state registration law because the dealer drive-out tag on defendant's vehicle was faded and weathered.

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At a jury trial, Harold Chiasson was convicted of operating an unregistered vehicle,1 driving a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license,2 and operating a motor vehicle without proof of insurance.3 He seeks a reversal of his convictions and sentences on grounds that the traffic stop and his pretrial detention were illegal, he is not a resident of the State of Georgia, and he did not own the vehicle he was operating. Finding no ground for reversal, we affirm.

On December 11, 1997, Officer Harper of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department stopped a 1987 van driven by Chiasson. Harper testified that he initiated the stop because the van was an older vehicle bearing a dealer’s drive-out tag which, based on its weathered look, appeared to have been on the vehicle beyond the 30-day period authorized by Georgia law. When Harper approached the van and asked Chiasson for his driver’s license and insurance card, Chiasson refused to produce such documentation. Harper arrested Chiasson after a records check reflected that the vehicle was unregistered and that Chiasson had no driver’s license. An inventory search of the van following impoundment did not yield a driver’s license, car registration, or proof of insurance.

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