Based upon this information a nationwide lookout was issued for the victim's car, and three of the individuals last seen with the victim including Burgeson. The Tennessee police stopped the car after observing that it along with the three individuals inside matched the descriptions given in the lookout. Clearly, this provided the basis for reasonable and articulable suspicion justifying the stop. But then the police had more, they had probable cause, which can rest upon the collective knowledge of the police when there is some degree of communication between them, instead of the knowledge of the arresting officer alone. Burgeson and her cohorts fled the police after the attempted stop.
Flight can be a significant factor in determining probable cause.
This coupled with the other knowledge that Burgeson was one of the last people seen with the victim, that she had left the state after the murder occurred, and that she was in the victim's car amounted to circumstances sufficient to warrant a prudent person in believing that Burgeson had committed or was committing an offense. However, Burgeson cannot assert a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights in regard to the search of the car because she had no proprietary interest in it or legitimate expectation of privacy regarding the vehicle or its contents. On the contrary, as one knowingly using a stolen vehicle on a public roadway, Burgeson probably was in constant expectation of intrusion by the authorities. Moreover, it is clear that following the attempted police stop, Burgeson abandoned, for Fourth Amendment purposes, the stolen vehicle and her personal belongings inside. 190 Ga. App.