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Gary v. State6/6/2001
asonable suspicion" standard, an officer's investigation during a traffic stop must be justified by specific, articulable facts sufficient to give rise to a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct. Id. at 618. "Articulable suspicion requires a particularized and objective basis for suspecting that a citizen is involved in criminal activity." State v. Causey. While this suspicion need not meet the standard of probable cause, it must be more than mere caprice or a hunch or an inclination. See Parker, supra.
Here, uniformed officers manning a checkpoint observed a driver suddenly brake and turn his vehicle into a driveway just short of their checkpoint. Prior to the abrupt turn, the driver had not used a turn signal and his rear vehicle lacked tow lights. After witnessing these traffic violations, Deputy Trudnak was plainly authorized to stop Gary. See Buffington v. State. Subsequently, during the investigatory stop, Trudnak noticed Gary's nervousness. In addition, Trudnak knew that a confidential informant recently had identified Gary as a supplier of methamphetamines. Collectively, these facts, including Gary's apparent effort to avoid the checkpoint, formed a sufficient, reasonable basis for Trudnak to believe that Gary was transporting illegal drugs or was otherwise engaged in criminal conduct of some sort as would warrant further investigation. See State of Ga. v. Montford. The period of detention while waiting for the drug dog was minimal. The officers were authorized to walk the drug dog around Gary's truck to see whether the dog detected the odor of drugs. Edwards v. State.
2. Gary contends that the trial court erred in determining that based on the totality of the circumstances, probable cause existed to search his vehicle. On the contrary, the drug dog's alert to the exterior of vehicle established probable cause to search the truck. Roundtree v. State.
Judgment affirmed.
Pope, P. J., and Mikell, J., concur.
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