The State charged Melvin Cauley with possessing cocaine with intent to distribute.1 Cauley moved to suppress the cocaine that his parole officer found while searching Cauley’s automobile, arguing that the search was illegal. The trial court denied the motion, and the jury found Cauley guilty. Thereafter, the court granted Cauley’s motion for new trial, specifically setting aside its previous order denying the motion to suppress and granting the suppression motion. The State appeals, contending that the trial court erred in granting Cauley’s motions to suppress the evidence and for new trial. For reasons that follow, we reverse. “When we review a trial court’s decision on a motion to suppress, the evidence is construed most favorably to uphold the findings and judgment of the trial court; the trial court’s findings on disputed facts and credibility are adopted unless they are clearly erroneous and will not be disturbed if there is any evidence to support them.”2 So viewed, the evidence shows that Timothy Gray, a narcotics investigator, received a telephone call from an informant advising that he had observed a black bag containing a “large amount of drugs” in a gray Mitsubishi Montero. Gray testified that the informant —who had a pending charge at the time of the call —had been “working for” Gray for the previous six or seven months, during which time he provided corroborated information that led to numerous drug purchases.
The informant stated that the vehicle was being detailed at a specific automobile detail shop, and identified the driver as “Rusty.” Gray arrived at the detail shop approximately ten minutes after he received the telephone call; he observed a gray Mistubishi Montero being detailed and therefore set up surveillance. Approximately fifteen to twenty minutes later, the police observed Cauley drive away in the Montero.3 Investigator Gray and several officers in marked police cars followed Cauley. According to Gray, although the police hoped to stop Cauley for a traffic violation, Cauley followed all of the rules of the road and gave them “no probable cause to make a stop.”
