# State v. Thornton

> Supreme Court of Georgia · November 21, 1984 · 253 Ga. 524

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9578360

## Case

- **Full name:** The State v. Thornton
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Georgia
- **Decided:** November 21, 1984
- **Citations:** 253 Ga. 524; 322 S.E.2d 711; 1984 Ga. LEXIS 1034
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Hill
- **Judges:** Weltner, Hill, Smith
- **Cited by:** 360 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- **Red flag:** Overruled in part, on other grounds by Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179 (2019).
- Negative treatments: 3
- Distinguished by: 0
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9578360

## Opinion text

*526 Hill, Chief Justice,
concurring specially.
While I join the Court’s opinion in this instance, I do not approve the police tactics utilized here.
The defendant was indicted for murder and freed on bond. He was taken into custody at his Cobb County home and transported to the dentist’s office in Fulton County on the basis of search warrants issued in each county.
During the motion to suppress hearing, the trial court expressed the view that the procedure utilized should not be condoned, and that the officers should have applied to the trial court for authority to obtain the dental impressions. I agree. Upon motion and after hearing, the trial court could have rendered an appropriate order, which would have avoided the unusual use of a search warrant, issued ex parte, to enter the defendant’s mouth and take dental impressions.
In the future, this writer will not approve the use of a search warrant to enter the body of the defendant other than to draw blood, except upon order or search warrant issued by a superior court, the procedure used in Creamer v. State, 229 Ga. 511, 512-514 ( 192 SE2d 350 ) (1972).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9578360. Public record. Not legal advice.