Court Opinion

ID: 9609590
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:28:49.74895+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:03:05.943227
License: Public Domain

Smith, Judge,
dissenting in part.
While I join in Judge Cooper’s dissent, I write separately to comment on the deterrent purpose of the exclusionary rule and the standard of review this court is to apply in cases of this kind.
I would affirm the trial court’s ruling in all respects. There is no question that Lorenzo Espinoza’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when police searched unit 251-A of the duplex. There is likewise no question that the contraband was found on the 251-A side of the building. Without more, it is clear that suppression of the evidence found would be proper.
“[I]n Michigan v. Tucker, 417 U. S. 433, 447 (94 SC 2357, 41 LE2d 182) (1974), the United States Supreme Court stated: ‘The deterrent purpose of the exclusionary rule necessarily assumes that the police have engaged in wilful, or at the very least negligent, conduct which has deprived the defendant of some right. By refusing to admit evidence gained as a result of such conduct, the courts hope to instill *820in those particular investigating officers, or in their future counterparts, a greater degree of care toward the rights of an accused. Where the official action was pursued in complete good faith, however, the deterrence rationale loses much of its force.’ ” (Emphasis supplied.) State v. Patterson, 143 Ga. App. 225, 226 (237 SE2d 707) (1977).
Decided April 1, 1994
Thomas J. Charron, District Attorney, Debra H. Bernes, Nancy I. Jordan, Assistant District Attorneys, for appellant.
Steve T. Woodman, for appellee.
“Unless clearly erroneous, the trial court’s ruling on disputed facts and credibility at a suppression hearing must be accepted on appeal. [Cit.]” Dean v. State, 250 Ga. 77, 80 (2a) (295 SE2d 306) (1982). This standard of review is to be applied regardless of whether the trial court’s ruling was to grant or deny a motion to suppress. Keeping in mind the remedial nature of the exclusionary rule, the fact that Lorenzo Espinoza’s Fourth Amendment rights were clearly violated, and the proper standard of review to be applied in considering rulings on motions to suppress, I am not prepared to hold that the trial court’s decision was clearly erroneous merely because there is an arguable basis for justifying the search as being within the curtilage of unit 251-B. The trial court determined as a matter of fact that the evidence was the product of the illegal search of unit 251-A rather than the legal search of unit 251-B. I would defer to the trial court’s determination on that matter since there is evidence to support it. Of course, I offer no opinion whether I would likewise affirm a contrary ruling by the trial court; that case is not now before us. In this case, I would merely find that the trial court’s ruling is not clearly erroneous, and that it therefore should be affirmed.
I am authorized to state that Chief Judge Pope joins in this dissent.