Court Opinion

ID: 9574309
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:04:03.377081+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:44:21.317552
License: Public Domain

Ingram, Justice,
dissenting.
I concur in Divisions I, III and IV of the per curiam opinion, but not in Division II. In my judgment, Division II of the opinion is incorrect for at least two substantial reasons. First, probable cause did not exist at the time that appellant was arrested. Since the initial arrest was without probable cause, it was illegal and the majority fails to apply Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U. S. 471 (1963) and Brown v. Illinois, -U. S. -(95 SC 2254, 45 LE2d 416) (1975), in analyzing and disposing of the federal constitutional issues created by the circumstances of appellant’s arrest and detention in this case and the evidence taken from him while he was in custody.
Secondly, the majority opinion effectively repeals the Georgia arrest provisions of the Code. Section 27-207 provides an arrest may be made by an officer without a warrant only if the offense is committed in his presence; or, the offender is endeavoring to escape; or, for other *450cause there is likely to be a failure of justice for want of an officer to issue a warrant. None of these three exceptions was applicable here and in fact a warrant was finally sought and easily obtained for appellant on Monday after he had been arrested on the preceding Friday and detained in custody since that time. Code Ann. § 27-313 provides in the case of an unlawful search that the evidence be suppressed. Moreover, Code Ann. § 27-212 provides that when a person is arrested without a warrant, "the person arresting shall without delay convey the offender before the most convenient officer authorized to receive an affidavit and issue a warrant.” That section further provides that "[n]o such imprisonment shall be legal beyond a reasonable time allowed for this purpose and any person who is not conveyed before such officer within 48 hours shall be released.”
In my judgment, these sections of the Code are clearly applicable to this case and public justice is not served by this court’s failure to enforce them. Thus, I find no support in law for Division II of the majority opinion and conclude it is wrong as a matter of federal and state law. I would order a new trial and hold that the evidence illegally obtained from appellant during his illegal detention could not be used against him. If he is guilty the state should be able to prove it without using this legally inadmissible evidence. The rights of the innocent, as well as the guilty, are put in serious jeopardy when we affirm a conviction that is based upon evidence obtained in violation of federal and state law. Therefore, I must dissent.