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Johnson v. State

An officer properly seized the marijuana in the defendant's jacket pocket, since the jacket was hanging just outside the bathroom door of a motel room from which the defendant was lawfully being evicted in his absence, the officer needed to enter the closed bathroom to make sure that it was unoccupied, and the officer was justified to check the jacket for weapons to ensure his safety.

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We granted certiorari in this case to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding that an officer’s entry into Johnson’s hotel room was lawful so that he could seize contraband found therein.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm in part and reverse in part. On March 30, 2005, Johnson was renting a room at a hotel in Lavonia, Georgia. Hotel guests complained to the manager that illegal activity was occurring in Johnson’s room and that a large number of people were coming and going from the room. The guests also expressed concerned for their safety. The manager of the hotel contacted the Lavonia Police Department, and it dispatched two officers to the hotel. At trial, when an officer was asked whether he had observed activity in the room, he testified that he had and that he spoke with two men in the parking lot who told them they were there to purchase marijuana. The officer told the hotel manager that he had discovered Johnson was selling drugs out of the room, and the manager asked the officer to assist a hotel clerk in evicting Johnson.

Pursuant to hotel protocols, the clerk was required to call the room first and attempt to contact Johnson. If she could not contact him by phone, she was required to go to the room and knock on the door to see if he would answer the door and speak to her. If no contact could be made, she was required to open the door and determine whether anyone was in the room. If no one was there, she was required to lock the door with an “inhibit key” that would preclude further entry to the room.

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