Self, Judge.In each of these appeals, we are called upon to address the same issue based upon identical facts: whether the trial court erred by denying appellants’ motion to suppress grounded upon the State’s failure to immediately present wiretap recordings for sealing as required by federal law. See 18 USC § 2518 (8) (a). For the reasons explained below, we affirm. On appeal, we accept the findings of the trial court on questions of disputed fact unless those findings are clearly erroneous. We owe no deference, however, to the trial court on questions of law, and we must decide for ourselves whether the facts show a failure to immediately present the recordings for sealing and, if so, a satisfactory explanation for that failure.
Finney v. State, 298 Ga. 620, 622, n. 5 (783 SE2d 598) (2016). The record shows that on June 19, 2015, a Spalding County superior court judge signed three separate orders authorizing wiretaps on cell phones belonging to Adrian Lehsten. On June 21, 2015, approximately two weeks before the orders were scheduled to expire, Lehsten was arrested in Lamar County. The next day, the police learned of his arrest and “had to kind of scramble and execute . . . four to five search warrants” at “the residences of other known co-conspirators.” They also stopped the electronic surveillance since Lehsten “was no longer using his phone because he was in jail.” A narcotics officer received the recordings on June 24, 2015. On July 2, the judge who issued the wiretap orders signed an order sealing the recordings. In March 2017, the State indicted, among others, the six appellants in this appeal (Darryl Keith Booth, Trenton Matthew Stamey, Amber Cherie Powell, Tammy Louise Medina, Anthony Wade Jones, and Christina Marie Boswell) for various crimes, including illegal use of a communication facility.[1] Each of the appellants, who are all represented by the same attorney, filed identical motions to suppress “all evidence resulting from an unlawful wiretap” based upon the State’s delay in sealing the recordings. Following a consolidated hearing for all six cases, the trial court denied the motions to suppress.1. In Georgia, a superior court judge may issue a warrant permitting a wiretap “for the surveillance of a person or place to the extent the same is consistent with and subject to the terms, conditions, and procedures provided by 18 U.S.C. Chapter 119.” OCGA § 16-11-64 (c). 18 USC § 2518 (8) (a) mandates that “[i]mmediately upon the expiration of the period of the order [authorizing interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications], or extensions thereof, such recordings shall be made available to the judge issuing such order and sealed under his directions.” [T]he government may not use or disclose the content of any intercepted communication or any evidence derived therefrom in a judicial proceeding, unless there appears a “satisfactory explanation” for the failure to make an immediate presentation of the recordings. A “satisfactory explanation” is one that “explains not only why a delay occurred but also why it is excusable.” United States v. Ojeda Rios, 495 U. S. 257, 265 (110 SCt 1845, 109 LE2d 224) (1990).
