Court Opinion

ID: 9620893
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 05:49:25.821134+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:57:55.777115
License: Public Domain

Banke, Presiding Judge.
Maddox was convicted of violating the Controlled Substances Act by possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. On appeal, he enumerates as error the denial of his motion to suppress the contraband on the ground that it was seized during an unlawful, warrant-less search of his motor vehicle.
The appellant and a male companion were observed by Officer Tyner of the Hall County Sheriff’s Department standing next to a truck parked at a convenience store at approximately 3:00 o’clock in the morning. Upon being questioned by the officer, the appellant stated that the truck belonged to him and that its headlights were inoperative. A second patrol car arrived at the scene, and the two officers agreed to escort the appellant while he drove his truck to a location where, according to him, he would be able to get mechanical assistance. One patrol car preceded the truck, while the other followed it. En route, the officers received information by radio that two warrants were outstanding for the appellant’s arrest. Based on that information, the officers directed the appellant to pull his truck over to the side of the road and placed him under arrest.
When asked if there was any particular towing service he preferred to pick up his truck, the appellant responded that he wanted the vehicle to be left at the side of the road. His companion thereupon volunteered to make arrangements to have the disabled vehicle picked up. The appellant was then taken to the sheriff’s office by one of the officers, while his companion was driven to a nearby telephone booth by the other officer. However, because of certain comments made by the companion which cast doubt on whether he would actually be able to arrange for the retrieval of the vehicle, the officer radioed for a wrecker and immediately returned to the scene of the arrest, where he conducted a search of the vehicle “to secure anything *884of value.” The officer testified that he was back on the scene within only a few minutes after leaving. During the course of the search, a syringe and other drug paraphernalia were seized from under the armrest between the driver and passenger seats, and a white powdery substance was seized from the floorboard on the passenger side. The white powder was ultimately determined to be methamphetamine. Held:
1. In New York v. Belton, 453 U. S. 454 (101 SC 2860, 69 LE2d 768) (1981), the United States Supreme Court held that a contemporaneous warrantless search of the interior of a motor vehicle conducted in connection with a custodial arrest of the vehicle’s driver may be considered a lawful search incident to arrest even though the vehicle is no longer occupied. The appellant contends that the Belton rationale cannot be extended to the present case because the search was conducted not merely after his removal from the vehicle but also after his removal from the scene. However, in State v. Watkins, 182 Ga. App. 431 (356 SE2d 82) (1987), we upheld the validity of an automobile search on the basis of Belton under precisely such circumstances, citing State v. Hopkins, 163 Ga. App. 141, 143 (2) (293 SE2d 529) (1982), for the proposition that “ ‘[t]he decisive factor is whether the arrestee was, at the time of his arrest, a “recent occupant” of the automobile, not whether the automobile and its contents were in his immediate control at the time of the search.’ ” State v. Watkins, supra at 433. (Emphasis from original.) See also Oswell v. State, 181 Ga. App. 35 (351 SE2d 221) (1986). Since, in the present case, the evidence established without dispute that the search occurred within a few minutes of the appellant’s removal from the vehicle, we hold that the motion to suppress was properly denied.
The appellant’s reliance on Whisnant v. State, 185 Ga. App. 51 (363 SE2d 341) (1987), is misplaced. In that case, the search occurred some two hours after the initial stop and arrest of the driver and after the vehicle had already been seized and transported to the county jail.
2. Having determined that the search was conducted as a lawful incident to the appellant’s custodial arrest, we do not reach the issue of whether the search could also be upheld as a valid inventory search. See generally State v. Hopkins, supra.

Judgment affirmed.

Birdsong, C. J., Deen, P. J., McMurray, P. J., and Pope, J., concur. Carley, Sognier, Benham, and Beasley, JJ., concur specially.