Brown v. State
Brown v. State
Opinion of the Court
Following a bench trial, Kenneth Brown was found guilty of driving while under the influence of alcohol. Brown contends he was not timely read his implied consent warnings and that the trial court, therefore, erred in denying his motion to suppress the breath test results. We find no error and affirm Brown’s conviction.
When reviewing a trial court’s decision on a motion to suppress, an appellate court must adopt the trial court’s findings of fact unless those findings are clearly erroneous and not supported by any evidence admitted at the suppression hearing.
As a general rule, the implied consent warning must be given by the arresting officer “at the time of arrest.”
The arresting officer testified that during the elapsed four minutes and forty-seven seconds he was verifying there were no weapons in a jacket on Brown’s motorcycle or in the motorcycle compartments. He was also determining whether there was a threat posed by two bystanders walking freely about in the proximity of the motorcycle and the patrol car. And, he was searching for identification to confirm Brown’s identity. A delay may be warranted where, as here, the exigencies of police work prevent giving the advice immediately.
Moreover, in a situation where an officer properly delays the reading of implied consent for a brief period in order to attend to the exigencies of police work, it is incumbent upon the defendant to demonstrate how he would have benefitted by being read the implied consent warning earlier.
Because the implied consent warning was given in close proximity to the arrest and its timing was warranted by the circumstances, the trial court properly denied Brown’s motion to suppress the results of his breath test.
Judgment affirmed.
State v. David, 269 Ga. 533, 535 (1) (501 SE2d 494) (1998); State v. Gillette, 236 Ga. App. 571, 573 (512 SE2d 399) (1999).
OCGA § 40-6-392 (a) (4).
Townsend v. State, 236 Ga. App. 530, 531 (1) (b) (511 SE2d 587) (1999); Edge v. State, 226 Ga. App. 559, 560 (1) (a) (487 SE2d 117) (1997).
State v. Marks, 239 Ga. App. 448, 453 (2) (521 SE2d 257) (1999).
Id.; Fore v. State, 180 Ga. App. 196 (348 SE2d 579) (1986).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.