Court Opinion

ID: 9586767
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:14:45.823855+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:32:50.440033
License: Public Domain

Benham, Judge,
concurring specially.
In the original decision, I joined Presiding Judge Banke along *704with Judge Sognier in dissenting, mainly due to my reservation concerning the majority’s reliance upon Reid v. State, 179 Ga. App. 144 (345 SE2d 635) (1986). However, after a more careful analysis of the facts on rehearing, I now specially concur in the judgment of the majority, and I write separately to further develop the facts.
While there are striking factual similarities between the case sub judice and Reid v. State, there is one note-worthy difference: Reid was a leg-bulge-consent case and this case is not. Therefore, Reid is a weak peg on which to hang the results of this case. However, the facts here provide a more compelling basis for the result reached by the majority. My concurrence is bottomed on the very detailed evidence given here which is sufficient to meet the probable cause requirement. The legal requirements of the drug courier profile are sufficiently outlined in Reid v. State and a host of other cases too numerous to mention. When this profile is superimposed on the facts of this case, we see that the fact finder was authorized to find significant similarities: appellant boarded the plane from a known drug source city after having purchased his ticket with cash. He was the last individual to leave the plane, bypassing the service representative and going directly to the monitor. He wore tight blue jeans and his boots were abnormally large to the extent that they noticeably stuck out along .the calves of his legs. He walked around aimlessly in the airport with a small tote bag which appeared to be completely empty, and he had no baggage claims. When approached by officers, his nervousness was evident from his profuse perspiration, shaking, and heavy breathing. All of this conduct, in addition to that outlined in the majority opinion, was consistent both with the drug courier profile and with law enforcement experience which showed that that combination of facts usually indicated drug activity. Therefore, the totality of the circumstances was sufficient not only for a Terry stop but also for a probable cause arrest.