Pursuant to OCGA § 5-7-1 4, the State of Georgia appeals from the order of the Fulton County Superior Court suppressing marijuana and other drug evidence discovered in a hotel room that Dwayne Carter was visiting. The State contends that the trial court, having concluded that Carter was a “mere invitee” in the hotel room, erred in suppressing evidence found in the room because a casual visitor to the hotel room of another has no standing to contest the search of the premises. We agree. Consequently, we must reverse. When reviewing a trial court’s order on a motion to suppress where the facts are undisputed and there is no question regarding the credibility of witnesses, we apply a de novo standard of review to the trial court’s application of the law to the facts. Vansant v. State , 264 Ga. 319, 320 1 443 SE2d 474 1994. Although the facts of this case were hotly disputed below, the State does not dispute the trial court’s factual findings for purposes of this appeal. The State argues only that the trial court erred in applying the law to those factual findings.
The facts relevant to this appeal are these: On August 14, 2006, police officers searched adjoining Rooms 401 and 402 of the Twelve Hotel in Fulton County based on hotel employee reports that a large bag of marijuana was in Room 402. When the police knocked on the door to Room 402, Derrick Lawrence answered; Carter entered the room shortly thereafter from adjoining Room 401. No one else was in the rooms. After handcuffing Lawrence and Carter, the police searched the rooms and found marijuana in a paper bag in the refrigerator and in the trash can and other controlled substances in a duffel bag.1 The trial court found that neither Lawrence nor Carter consented to the search of the rooms and that both were “mere invitees” visiting the hotel rooms of a third person, identified as “Dresser.” The court concluded that the rooms were not registered in Carter’s name. Further, the court found that Carter did not sleep in Dresser’s rooms, had his own room on another floor, and lacked card-key access to Dresser’s rooms. A witness testified that the personal luggage in the rooms belonged to Dresser. The trial court suppressed the marijuana and drug evidence, concluding that even if Carter or Lawrence had consented to the entry, the police lacked authority to search Dresser’s rooms because neither Lawrence nor Carter, as mere invitees of Dresser, could give their consent to search the rooms.
