State v. Alexander

Evidence of guilt which the defendant, directly or indirectly, is compelled to disclose by an unlawful search of his person under an illegal arrest is not admissible in a criminal prosecution.1 Based upon conflicting evidence, the trial court here concluded that a traffic stop and pants-down cavity search of Michael Alexander was, “given the totality of the circumstances, . . . a pretextual stop and unreasonable and an illegal search.” As a result, the trial court granted Alexander’s motion to suppress a pill bottle filled with crack cocaine retrieved from Alexander’s rectum after a complete search incident to a custodial arrest. Pursuant to OCGA § 5-7-1 a 4, the State brings this direct appeal. Because the evidence adduced below, including challenges to the credibility of the arresting officers, authorized the trial court’s ultimate conclusion that the initial stop was unlawful, as was the subsequent warrantless search, we affirm.

After a traffic stop, Alexander was placed under arrest for a seat belt violation and for an altered VIN on the vehicle. Yet, police observed neither of these alleged violations before the stop. Rather, they justified the stop on the ground that Alexander allegedly eluded a roadblock. Although there is evidence that Alexander made a right turn at an intersection, saw a roadblock, and attempted to elude by turning into a service station, essentially coming around 360 degrees back to the intersection and then turning in the opposite direction away from the roadblock, there is also evidence that Alexander intended to turn left all along to go to a friend’s house and that there was no roadblock to evade or elude. Other matters undermining officer credibility involved a second page to the police report that was prepared in a hand not recognized by the signing officer, omissions in the police report, and officer testimony at the suppression hearing at odds with the written police report. Another inconsistency is the timing of the alleged receipt of information from another officer that Alexander carried drugs hidden in his buttocks.