Opinion
55118.
ARGUED JANUARY 17, 1978.
DECIDED FEBRUARY 1, 1978. REHEARING DENIED FEBRUARY 16, 1978.
Motion to suppress; drugs. Richmond Superior Court. Before Judge Pierce.
Richard E. Allen, District Attorney, James W. Purcell, Assistant District Attorney, for appellant.
Fleming Blanchard, Bobby Barton, John Fleming, James M. Thompson, for appellee.
The state appeals from the order granting defendant's motion to suppress the evidence. The trial court erred in granting the motion as it gave retroactive application to the holding in Connally v. Georgia, 429 U.S. 245 ( 97 SC 546, 50 L.Ed.2d 444). The latter decision held that a search warrant issued by a justice of peace on the fee system violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The decisions of this court in State v. Patterson, 143 Ga. App. 225 ( 237 S.E.2d 707) and Lawson v. State, 143 Ga. App. 776, hold that Connally is to be applied prospectively to searches conducted after the date of that decision. The instant search conducted under authority of a warrant issued by justice of the peace occurred on November 5, 1976.
Judgment reversed. Shulman and Birdsong, JJ., concur.