The State appeals from the trial court’s order granting Thomas Shane Williams’s motion to suppress evidence of methamphetamine found by police during a traffic stop and search of a vehicle in which he was a passenger. For the following reasons, we reverse. Based on evidence of methamphetamine found in the search, Williams and the driver of the vehicle, Robert A. St. John, were jointly charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Williams moved to suppress the methamphetamine on the basis that the consent to search the vehicle given by St. John was the product of: 1 an illegal stop, or 2 an illegally expanded detention during a valid stop. After a hearing, the trial court granted Williams’s motion finding that the police officer’s initial stop of the vehicle was valid, but that the consent to search the vehicle was invalid because it was the product of an unlawful detention during an improper expansion of the scope and duration of the stop.
There being no dispute over the facts relevant to the trial court’s ruling, the court’s application of the law to the undisputed facts is subject to de novo review. Vansant v. State , 264 Ga. 319, 320 443 SE2d 474 1994. Testimony produced at the hearing on the motion to suppress showed the following facts. In the early morning hours after midnight, officer Spriggs of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department received a call from fellow officer Hunter, who was patrolling in the same area. Hunter told Spriggs that he had just investigated a truck parked on the side of Georgia 400 occupied by two men who had been drinking and who stated they were not going to move the truck. Officer Hunter testified at the hearing that both men in the truck admitted to him they had been drinking, and that he saw the passenger drop an open container of beer. Officer Hunter concluded the driver, St. John, “didn’t look that bad,” so he advised him to stay there until he thought he could drive. At that point, officer Hunter said he was unsure whether or not the driver was under the influence of alcohol, but he decided there were no offenses as long as the truck remained parked. However, officer Hunter radioed officer Spriggs with the information about his encounter with the truck, and told Spriggs to be on the lookout if he saw the truck on the road. A short time later, officer Spriggs saw a similar truck being driven on Georgia 400 and stopped it for a traffic violation because the tag was improperly displayed in the rear window and was partially obscured. After officer Spriggs stopped the truck, officer Hunter arrived and confirmed it was the same truck.
