The State Court Of Appeals sided with the state on a man found in Putnam County with some 300 grams of methamphetamine hidden inside a spare tire.
The Appeals Court ordered Monday the case of Henry Dwayne Autrey to go forward.
A trial court dismissed the indictment of Autrey in August, 2021 after Autrey’s attorneys challenged the constitutionality of the vehicle search that led to the meth. The trial court ruled that the officers who stopped Autrey had stopped the search of his vehicle and then re-started the search of the area around the spare tire. The trail court said officers “unreasonably extended the duration of the stop in order to search the spare tire”
The appeals court ruled the trial court erred in its judgement, and said only 3.5 minutes elapsed during the pause in the vehicle search. Further, the appeals court said the officer’s training had prepared them that drugs could be hidden in areas such as around the spare tire.
“Trooper Cothron additionally testified that the quick turn-around trip to California, a source state for illegal drugs, along with the unusual tire tools and tire weights, increased his suspicions because drug traffickers are known to make quick turn-around trips,” Judge John Anderson wrote in his decision.
The traffic stop happened July 31, 2018 near Interstate 40 mile marker 291. Two highway patrol officers stopped three men for a seatbelt violation. Autrey was in the backseat. The officers noticed a folder dollar bill and asked if they could see the bill. The officers found it contained a white substance. Officers later found a marijuana pipe and grinder as well as tire weights, a valve stem remover, and a battery-powered impact wrench.
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