Court Opinion

ID: 9576570
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:26:01.473353+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:10:03.652069
License: Public Domain

Ruffin, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion because I do not believe, as the majority finds, that the police officers had reasonable suspicion that Morris either was engaged or was about to be engaged in criminal conduct.
It is well settled that an investigatory stop must be justified by some objective manifestation that the person stopped is, or is about to be, engaged in criminal conduct. See Barnes v. State, 228 Ga. App. *10544, 45 (491 SE2d 116) (1997); State v. Goodman, 220 Ga. App. 169, 172 (2) (469 SE2d 327) (1996); Oboh v. State, 217 Ga. App. 553, 555 (458 SE2d 177) (1995). Here, the only basis the officers provided for their decision to stop Morris is that they believed Morris was the individual who had been “beating on the door” of the convenience store, trying to gain entry after the store had closed. The convenience store closed from 2:00 a.m. until 4:00 a.m. When asked his reason for trying to get into the store, Morris explained that he wished to purchase bread. This explanation is entirely plausible, and I am confident that many law abiding citizens have attempted to convince a cashier to let them into a store after hours to make a purchase.
Of course, Morris could have broken the law in his attempt to gain entry into the store. However, there is no indication that he damaged store property while pounding on the door. Although the police officers testified that the store clerk said that she was afraid, the clerk did not testify either at the suppression hearing or at trial. Thus, there is no evidence that she asked Morris to leave. Also, there is no evidence suggesting that Morris threatened the clerk to convince her to open the door. Here, the only activity Morris engaged in was banging on the door of the store. Unquestionably, this does not constitute a crime.1 We cannot assume criminality based on conduct which may reflect what someone thought was a crime — whether the officers or the store clerk — but which is, in fact, not a crime, without more. We cannot assume criminality based upon such innocuous conduct. See Johnson v. State, 231 Ga. App. 273 (498 SE2d 359) (1998) (physical precedent only) (no suggestion that defendant’s conduct in knocking on doors to solicit a ride was illegal). Regardless of whether either the officers or the store clerk thought Morris’ actions were criminal, absent objective evidence of criminal conduct, the officers lacked reasonable suspicion to detain Morris. Rogers v. State, 206 Ga. App. 654, 659 (3) (426 SE2d 209) (1992) (a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct must be based on more than a subjective suspicion).
Moreover, there was no evidence suggesting that Morris was about to commit a crime as he was leaving the premises. The State presented no evidence that Morris committed any traffic violations while attempting to leave. To the contrary, one of the arresting officers acknowledged that there was nothing unusual about either Morris’ truck or the manner in which the truck was being driven. Under these circumstances, where there is no evidence of criminal conduct of any kind, I do not believe the police were justified in stop*106ping Morris. See State v. Goodman, supra (officer did not have reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct where defendant made a legal U-turn); State v. Canidate, 220 Ga. App. 276, 277 (469 SE2d 710) (1996) (officer not justified in investigating defendant after seeing him drive away from a house that had previously been raided only to pull quickly into a parking lot).
Decided July 1, 1999
Reconsideration denied July 14, 1999
Virgil L. Brown & Associates, Virgil L. Brown, Russell B. Mabrey, Jr., Eric D. Hearn, Bentley C. Adams III, Larkin M. Lee, for appellant.
Tommy K. Floyd, District Attorney, Mark S. Daniel, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
Accordingly, contrary to the majority conclusion, I do not believe the officers’ stop of Morris was based on an articulable suspicion. Because the stop was improper, I believe that Morris’ consent to search the match box the officers found in his pocket was tainted and, thus, the trial court should have suppressed evidence of the cocaine contained therein. See Tarwid v. State, 184 Ga. App. 853, 856 (1) (363 SE2d 63) (1987); Bowers v. State, 221 Ga. App. 886, 888 (473 SE2d 201) (1996) (physical precedent only).

 The majority asserts that Morris’ “conduct arguably [amounted] to disorderly conduct in violation of OCGA § 16-11-39.” I disagree. There is no evidence that Morris’ actions were directed toward another person, that he used “opprobrious or abusive words,” or that he used vulgar or profane language.