Hayes v. State

In Hayes v. State, 292 Ga. App. 724, 726 (2) (665 SE2d 422) (2008) the Court addressed a case and reiterated the principle that "consent given pursuant to a request made after the motorist has been detained for an unreasonable time is not a valid consent and contraband found during a subsequent search is the fruit of the poisonous tree." The Court explained that a reasonable time includes the time necessary to verify the driver's license, insurance, registration, and to complete any paperwork connected with the citation or a written warning, as well as the time necessary to run a computer check to determine whether there are any outstanding arrest warrants for the driver or the passengers. Id. at 729 (2) (b). In Hayes, the Court determined that a ten-minute conversation between an officer and defendant, which occurred after the officer had completed the traffic citations but before he had returned the defendant's paperwork or given him the citations, was reasonable. The conversation ended with the officer returning the paperwork, and 30 seconds later, he asked the defendant for consent to search the vehicle. See id. The Court determined that the consent was valid and that "the trial court did not err in concluding that this virtually contemporaneous request did not unreasonably prolong the detention." Based on the testimony given at the suppression hearing, it does not appear that Officer Baldwin's exchange with McKnight, which concluded in a consent search of the vehicle, exceeded ten minutes. Therefore, any delay in McKnight's detention that occurred due to Officer Baldwin's questioning was reasonable and did not render invalid her consent to search. See Hayes, 292 Ga. App. at 731.