Legal Question in Criminal Law in Georgia

My friend and I were driving to another friends house to wash some clothes on a bright sun shining day and were pulled over for not using a turn signal at a stop sign. We were approaching the stop sign the officer was turning onto the road we were on from the road the stop sign we were coming up to. He goes past us then does a U-turn in the middle of the road and got right behind us as we stopped at sign . We left the sign before we made it across the street a two lane rd he hit his lights. My friend immediately pulled over my friends license,tag and insurance were all good. We spoke to the officer answered all his questions as to where we were coming from where we were going etc.. We had been pulled over a good 20 to 30 mins when he came to the car asked my friend to step out of the vehicle and then asked him ton search the vehicle and if all was clear he would let him go with a warning. My friend refused and the officer sort of laughed and said well ill just walk my dog around the vehicle. He walked the dog around the vehicle and the dog did nothing the officer then took a tennis ball from his pocket and hit the door with it. I was pulled from the vehicle and then searched and they found a bag of meth with around a gram in it then they searched the car and found 8 roxiecodone pills. My question is since the traffic stop was completed wouldn't detaining us further make it an illegal stop?

Asked on 2/23/16, 9:47 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

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First of all, you may have helped prosecutors by posting such specifics of the internet (it is never wise to outline enough details so your case can be identified easily and a generic fact pattern would have been better to post). They can read your post too, so please stop and use some common sense instead of helping them prepare. You could go to prison, get hit with fines, etc. You already should have retained good counsel. Do that now. There are a lot of appellate cases that cover this type case. The state has won some, and defendants have won some, and the answer boils down to tiny details. The sooner you have a lawyer the sooner you will know if your motion to suppress issue is helpful and what options you may have.

Answered on 2/23/16, 11:09 am

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