Judge grants suppression of blood-test evidence in Patrick Moss DUI case, finds officer conduct coercive

Judge Tammy Long Hayward granted a motion to suppress blood-test results in State of Georgia v. Patrick Moss after finding that the totality of the circumstances showed the defendant’s consent to a blood draw was obtained through coercive police conduct. The hearing on the motion unfolded before Judge Hayward in a criminal motions calendar session in Courtroom 304.

At a hearing, defense attorney M.J. Tortorello argued that Moss’s consent to a state-administered blood test was not voluntary and was the product of coercion, citing Kendrick v. State and contending that Officer Stanley Shelby’s language and the timing of requests while Moss was in custody rendered the consent invalid. Tortorello told the court: “This was not a valid consent made by my client based on the totality of the circumstances as he was under arrest and was told by the officer that he needed to take the blood test.”

Assistant Solicitor General William Tipton opposed suppression, arguing the state had followed standard procedures: the implied-consent card was read, later a consent form was presented, and the defendant…