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GA: "Buy-Bust" produced no buy, but undercover officer froze the scene and let others in, and that violated Fourth Amendment

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Undercover officers attempted to make a buy from the defendant on the street, but it failed because he refused to deal with him. Another attempt was made by another officer to make a buy out of defendant's house, and the officer came and knocked. The door was locked, and somebody other than the defendant let him inside. Once inside, the officer saw the defendant watching TV and asked about buying $100 of powder cocaine. The defendant was reticent to deal with him, although there were drugs on the coffee table. After a mildly incriminating conversation, the defendant still refused to sell to the officer, so a signal was given and others entered to freeze the scene pending a search warrant. This entry was unconstituitonal. State v. Goodman, 2008 Ga...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 11, 2008 (boomark / email).