Edwin Brown was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Brown filed a motion to suppress the contraband and other evidence seized from his apartment, contending that the officer entered his bedroom illegally, and his subsequent consent to search was not freely and voluntarily given. Because the trial court correctly held that the officer’s entry into Brown’s bedroom without a warrant and without Brown’s consent was illegal, but failed to determine whether Brown’s subsequent consent to search was freely and voluntarily given, we vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings. “On appeal from the grant or denial of a motion to suppress or motion in limine, an appellate court must adopt the trial court’s findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous and not supported by any evidence admitted at the suppression hearing. However, 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.” McNeil v. State , 257 Ga. App. 147 570 SE2d 433 2002.
The evidence at the hearing on Brown’s motion to suppress was as follows. Two investigators, Detective Fogel and Detective Parker from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department had received information that Brown might be selling drugs from his apartment. But, they did not get a warrant. Instead, they went to Brown’s apartment and knocked on the door. When Adam Wiese, Brown’s roommate, opened the door, Fogel told him they had received information about drug activity at this address and asked if they could come into the apartment. Wiese allowed the officers to come inside, and, as they walked in, they saw a marijuana pipe in the kitchen and smelled marijuana in the apartment. Although an officer testified that Wiese said the pipe belonged to Brown, Wiese testified that the officers never asked him who owned the pipe, and that the pipe, in fact, belonged to him. Wiese said Brown was at home and was asleep in his bedroom.
