Haley Hawkins was arrested and indicted for several violations and an attempted violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act.1 Hawkins moved the trial court to suppress evidence of certain text messages that police obtained from her cell phone and the cell phone of another individual. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied her motion. She then sought immediate review in this Court, which we allowed. On appeal, Hawkins claims that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress because the seizure and search of her cell phone were unreasonable and because the police did not have the authority to send text messages to her, and receive and read text messages from her, using the phone of the other individual. We see no error and affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the disposition below,2 the evidence adduced at the hearing on the motion to suppress shows that an officer with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a mother, who said that numerous text messages about narcotics were being sent to her son’s cell phone, and who delivered the cell phone to the officer. Sometime thereafter, the officer received a text message on this phone from Hawkins, who evidently believed she was communicating with the son. At the time, the officer did not know Hawkins’s identity. Hawkins inquired in her text message whether the son had received certain controlled substances. Posing as the son, the officer responded by text message and asked how many of the pills Hawkins wanted to acquire. In reply, Hawkins asked how many pills were available, and the officer answered in another text message that he had about 25 pills. Hawkins then responded that she wanted all 25 pills and had the money to buy them. The officer and Hawkins continued to correspond by text messages and ultimately agreed to meet at a local restaurant that evening.
Prior to the time designated for the meeting, the same officer arrived at the restaurant and took up a surveillance position in its parking lot. He observed Hawkins drive into the parking lot shortly thereafter. He then observed Hawkins entering data into her phone, and he almost contemporaneously received another text message on the son’s cell phone, in which Hawkins announced her arrival at the restaurant.
