Thomas v. State

In Thomas v. State, 277 Ga. App. 88 (625 SE2d 455) (2005), the Court found that a corporal, even though he supervised the other officers on his shift, was not acting as a supervisor when he made the decision to implement a roadblock. Id. at 90. Rather, he was acting merely as an "officer in the field," because he made that decision "while he spoke with other officers at a convenience store immediately before implementing the roadblock itself." Id. Additionally, "there was no evidence that the officer relied on any specific authorization, by the chief or otherwise, to conduct roadblocks. Moreover, because the police department had no manual or guidelines for implementing roadblocks, there was no implicit authority on which he could rely." Id. at 90-91.