After a stipulated bench trial, Kevin Sullivan was convicted of failing to maintain lane and driving under the influence of alcohol DUI.1 On appeal, he challenges the trial court’s denial of his pretrial motion, which sought suppression of evidence of “his arrest and other related evidence.” While the trial court’s findings as to disputed facts in a ruling on a motion to suppress will be reviewed to determine whether the ruling was clearly erroneous, where the evidence is uncontroverted and no question regarding the credibility of witnesses is presented, the trial court’s application of the law to undisputed facts is subject to de novo appellate review.2 Applying that standard of review, we affirm. The pertinent facts were not in dispute. The officer who conducted the traffic stop of Sullivan was certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and employed as a campus police officer by the University of Georgia. At about 2:30 a.m. on April 16, 2009, the officer saw Sullivan’s vehicle repeatedly weave outside its travel lane as Sullivan was driving along a street upon the university’s campus. Thereupon, the officer followed Sullivan and observed continuous weaving for the next few blocks; the officer thus activated his patrol car’s emergency equipment to effectuate a traffic stop for failing to maintain lane. After the officer approached Sullivan, the officer noted that Sullivan had glassy eyes and was emitting the odor of an alcoholic beverage. In addition, Sullivan fumbled as he retrieved his license, stumbled as he walked, fell against his vehicle with his shoulder, and acknowledged that he had consumed “a few alcoholic beverages.” As Sullivan stipulated at trial,3 “he agreed to participate in voluntary field sobriety evaluations.” After the officer conducted the evaluations, he arrested Sullivan for DUI and failing to maintain lane. The officer informed Sullivan of his implied consent rights, and Sullivan refused to submit to a breath test.
In his suppression motion, Sullivan asserted that the campus police officer who arrested him was beyond his jurisdictional area when he activated his patrol car’s equipment, when he conducted the roadside investigation, and when he made the arrest. Sullivan cited OCGA § 20-3-72, which concerns personnel of the University of Georgia4 and states: The campus policemen and other security personnel of the university system who are regular employees of the system shall have the power to make arrests for offenses committed upon any property under the jurisdiction of the board of regents and for offenses committed upon any public or private property within 500 yards of any property under the jurisdiction of the board. At the hearing, the officer recounted that he had observed Sullivan commit several of the traffic violations within the university property. He could not recall the precise moment when he decided to stop Sullivan’s weaving car, testifying, “I was still building a case against him. I was watching his driving. I was —I was just watching him —the vehicle in motion.” However, he estimated that when he activated his patrol car’s emergency equipment to conduct the traffic stop, he was 100 yards beyond the statutory 500-yards limit; Sullivan stopped a reasonable distance beyond that.
