Court Opinion

ID: 9849814
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:46:53.449536+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:26.444817
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur fully in Divisions 1 and 4 but not entirely in what is said in Divisions 2 and 3.
Defendant was lawfully arrested because there was probable cause to believe that she had been “driving” or had been “in actual physical control of [a] moving vehicle” moments before the police came upon her, based on what they observed, even if the vehicle was not then moving and she was unconscious and not in actual physical control when they came upon her. This arrest was authorized by OCGA § 17-4-20 (a), because there would have been a failure of justice had the police delayed to get a warrant. She would have been free to drive off in her inebriated condition.
She was tried on a uniform traffic citation certified and issued by the arresting officer subsequent to her arrest, which is authorized by OCGA § 17-7-71 (b) (1).
There was thus no valid basis for quashing or dismissing the citation, which was a substitute for a formal accusation.