Case Overview

The State, Respondent, v. Terry T. Tindall, Petitioner

Petitioner was convicted in Oconee County of trafficking in cocaine and was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. He filed an appeal in the South Carolina Court of Appeals in which he argued neither the drugs discovered during the search of his car nor his statement to police should have been allowed into evidence at trial because the traffic stop that resulted in the discovery of the drugs and the statement by petitioner was unreasonable. The Court of Appeals found the officer had an objectively reasonable articulable suspicion illegal activity had occurred or was occurring; therefore, the detention of petitioner was permissible. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals affirmed petitioner’s conviction and sentence. Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the South Carolina Supreme Court asking the Court to review the Court of Appeals’ decision. The Supreme Court granted petitioner’s request to review the matter, specifically, whether the extension of petitioner’s detention after the traffic stop was unreasonable, and the drugs and statement obtained during the stop should therefore have been suppressed. The Court will hear arguments on this issue at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 2009.

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