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Smith v. State2/3/1999
JOHNSON, C. J., SMITH and BARNES, JJ.
In the Court of Appeals of Georgia
JO-106C
After a bench trial, Charles Smith was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent it was less safe for him to drive, driving without a license and driving without proof of insurance. Smith appeals from the DUI and driving without a license convictions.
1. Smith contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because the arresting officer had no reasonable articulable suspicion justifying the stop of his car. We disagree.
In reviewing a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress, this court construes the evidence most favorably to uphold the findings and judgment of the trial court. Pickens v. State, 225 Ga. App. 792 (1) (484 SE2d 731) (1997).
The arresting officer testified that she was on patrol on November 15, just before 8 p.m., when she first encountered Smith driving on Tara Boulevard in Clayton County. An automobile race had just ended nearby and traffic was heavy in the area. It was well-known to police officers that the racing events were often accompanied by an increase in drunk driving incidents.
The officer observed Smith "weaving erratically back and forth" within his lane. The officer followed Smith for a while and was unable to observe any legitimate reason for the weaving. There were cars in the adjoining lane and the officer thought that Smith's driving was unsafe. The officer testified that, in her experience, there seemed to be a relationship between weaving and driving while under the influence of alcohol. Thinking that Smith might be under the influence of alcohol, the officer pulled him over. After further investigation, including her observations, Smith's attempt at a field test and license and insurance checks, the officer formally arrested Smith.
"A police officer may legally conduct a brief investigatory stop without a showing of probable cause where the officer observes unusual conduct which, when viewed in the light of experience, causes to conclude that the individual is involved in criminal activity." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Atkins v. State, 209 Ga. App. 70 (432 SE2d 661) (1993).
In Semich v. State, 234 Ga. App. 89 ( SE2d ) (1998), we examined the issue of whether weaving within a lane, which is not a crime per se, justifies a brief investigatory stop. Id. at 91 (b). We held that the defendant's action of weaving within a lane, combined with his abrupt change in direction of travel and the late hour, gave rise to reasonable suspicion justifying a stop. Id. at 92. Although in Semich the officer observed furtive movement, a fact not present in the instant case, the court's reasoning and decision were primarily based upon the sufficiency of weaving within a lane as grounds for a brief stop.
We find the reasoning in Semich persuasive. The Semich court expressly recognized that the law has become increasingly less tolerant of intoxicated drivers and implicitly disapproved an earlier case intimating that weaving within a lane was insufficient to justify a stop. We agree and hold that under the circumstances presented here, weaving within a lane raised a reasonable suspicion that Smith was intoxicated and should not be driving.
This is not a situation in which an officer was arbitrarily harrassing a motorist for no sensible reason; rather the officer stopped someone she reasonably suspected, based on her own observations, posed an immediate and significant danger to the public. See Atkins, supra at 71; State v. Armstrong, 223 Ga. App. 350, 352-353 (1) (477 SE2d 635) (1996). The trial court did not err i
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