Satterfield v. State

The trial court properly admitted the methamphetamine found in defendant's pocket since the totality of the circumstances authorized the officers to detain defendant and his failure to follow their instructions authorized a pat-down search for weapons.

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Following a Hall County bench trial, Larry Shane Satterfield was convicted of a single count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He was sentenced to five years probation, to serve the first six months under intensive supervision and, among other special conditions of his probation, to pay a $2,000 fine. On appeal, the defendant challenges the denial of his motion to suppress the methamphetamine found on his person by police following a pat-down search variously arguing that the pat-down search was unlawful and that the arresting officers neither had articulable suspicion nor probable cause to seize him. We disagree and affirm.

Upon defendant’s motion to suppress at bench trial, Hall County Sheriff’s Investigator Gary Moore testified that he was paged by a confidential informant with whom he had previously worked. When Investigator Moore returned the call, the informant told Moore that the defendant was then in a Gainesville bar known as the Crazy Horse; that she had earlier observed the defendant offer to sell a quantity of “crank,” the street name for methamphetamine; and that the defendant returned it to his right front pants pocket after doing so. On this tip, Investigator Moore traveled to the Crazy Horse where the informant further described the defendant as wearing blue jeans and a yellow pull-over having “Tommy Hilfiger” embroidered across back of its collar. At Investigator Moore’s request, the informant then located the defendant, pointing him out in a crowd of more than 400 patrons at the bar.

Satterfield v. State

The trial court properly admitted the methamphetamine found in defendant's pocket since the totality of the circumstances authorized the officers to detain defendant and his failure to follow their instructions authorized a pat-down search for weapons.

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