State v. Edwards

Leonard Adrian Edwards and Ashley McMillain were jointly indicted on charges of trafficking in marijuana by possession of more than ten pounds of marijuana.1 Edwards filed a pre-trial motion to suppress evidence obtained from his residence as a result of: 1 an initial entry by police officers into the residence without a search warrant; and 2 a subsequent re-entry and search of the residence by the officers pursuant to a search warrant. McMillain, who also resided at the residence, adopted and joined in the motion to suppress. After a hearing on the motion, the trial court entered an order granting the motion to suppress.2 Pursuant to OCGA § 5-7-1 a 4, the State brings this pre-trial appeal claiming that the trial court erred by granting the motion to suppress evidence found by officers in the residence pursuant to the search warrant. For the following reasons, we affirm the suppression order in part and reverse in part.

On review of a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, “the trial court’s findings on disputed facts will be upheld unless clearly erroneous, and its application of the law to undisputed facts is subject to de novo review.” Barrett v. State, 289 Ga. 197, 200 709 SE2d 816 2011.