Audrey Rawlins, a well known primary care physician at Eastside Hospital in Atlanta, GA, was suspected of selling heroin to her patients who had recently been through surgery and were in the recovery process. Suspicion began in January 2018 when Nicole Liss, a former patient of Rawlins suffered a heroin overdose a few months after she had received a spinal fusion surgery. Liss was rushed to Eastside Hospital where doctors worked to keep her alive. Doctors were unable to save her, and she died later that day. Months later in April, the local police received an anonymous tip that Rawlins was operating a heroin lab from inside her Buckhead home. The unknown source identified themselves as an acquaintance of the late Nicole Liss. More evidence surfaced in June. On June 17th, Local officers received what they believed was video evidence of the crime through street security cameras behind Eastside Hospital. The video depicted Rawlins handing a small black package to a tall brown-haired man after the hospital’s operating hours. After the exchange, the man swiftly drove away in a silver Honda Accord. Rawlins is depicted walking back inside the hospital. The man’s face is not visible from the camera angle, so he could not be identified. Two months later, on August 21st, the police stopped Maria Balthazar for recklessly driving down Buford Highway. Balthazar was found to be high on heroin at the time of the incident. When questioned by the officers, Balthazar identified Rawlins as her heroin dealer.
After months of carefully monitoring Rawlins’ operations both within the hospital and from her own home, Chief Officer Jillian Bertulfo took over the investigation. Bertulfo believed that there was enough evidence to have probable cause for a warrant to search the inside of Rawlins’ one-story house for illegal substances. After attaining a warrant, while Rawlins happened to be out, Bertulfo and her team entered the home and began the search for illegal substances. To their surprise, there appeared to be no trace of the manufacturing of drugs within the home. Bertulfo and her team, desperate for answers, rigorously continued their search. The team caught sight of the backyard and continued searching outside of the house in the hopes of finding some kind of evidence. Rawlins’ yard was enclosed by tall trees and bushes, but they noticed that there was a small path that seemed to lead past the trees and bushes. They followed the path, and to their surprise, found a small shack that appeared to be part of Rawlins’ property. The door to the shack was locked, but there was a poignant smell coming from inside, so the team was certain that they could find something useful inside. They broke through the door and found what no one was looking for: a dead body on the floor of the shack.
Rawlins returned home within the next hour only to be welcomed with handcuffs. In jail, Rawlins was interrogated by authorities, but with an attorney at hand, was advised not to give any answers. Rawlins was tried for the murder of a twenty-year-old female at court. The prosecutor presented the evidence of the suspected drugs as well as the warrant to search the house and the images of the dead body. Rawlins’ defense, however, argued that the warrant had been to only search for drugs inside of Rawlins’ one-story house, not anywhere else on the property. The defense also acknowledged the fact that the shack had no windows, meaning that the body was not in clear sight, so the police had no right to go in the shack without a warrant.