Christopher Kinsey was charged by accusation with possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of a public housing project. He filed a motion to suppress evidence of the alleged cocaine, which a drug enforcement officer had found hidden inside the waistband of his pants. In his motion, Kinsey admits that he consented to a search of his pants, but claims that the consent was not freely and voluntarily given. The trial court granted Kinsey’s motion on that basis. The state appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in finding that Kinsey’s consent to the search was not free and voluntary. We agree with the state’s assertion and thus reverse the trial court’s granting of the motion to suppress. At the suppression hearing, the sole witness was the sheriff’s department corporal who found the suspected cocaine in Kinsey’s pants. He testified that a reliable informant had told him that Kinsey, who is confined to a wheelchair, was selling cocaine from his house and that he kept the cocaine inside a slit in the waistband of his pants. The corporal, along with three other officers, went to the house. When they arrived, Kinsey and several other people were on the front porch. The corporal did not initially speak with Kinsey, but spoke with his mother, who rents the house. The corporal told her that they had received complaints about drug activity at the house and asked for permission to search it. The mother consented to a search of the house. The officers conducted the search, which took less than 30 minutes, but did not find any cocaine.
The corporal then asked Kinsey to come inside the home, told him about the information he had received and asked for permission to search the inside of his pants. Kinsey consented to the search, saying that he was physically unable to undo his pants, so the corporal would have to do it. The corporal undid Kinsey’s pants and saw a plastic bag inside a slit cut into the waistband. He asked Kinsey what was in the bag, and Kinsey told him to pull it out. The corporal pulled that bag, along with another one, out of Kinsey’s waistband. The two bags contained 3.3 grams of suspected cocaine.
