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In re A.A.1/30/2004
The juvenile court adjudicated A.A. and J.H. delinquent for curfew violation, OCGA § 15-11-2, and minor in possession of alcoholic beverage, OCGA § 3-3-23. In addition, A.A. was adjudicated delinquent *370 for driving under the influence, OCGA § 40-6-391, and possession of marijuana, OCGA § 16-13-30. On appeal, the juveniles argue that the evidence was insufficient and that the court erred in denying their motion to suppress. For reasons which follow, we conclude **894 there was no reversible error and affirm.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the juvenile court's findings and judgment, the evidence was that a police officer on patrol saw a truck pull out of an elementary school parking lot at 2:30 a.m. Because there had been incidents of vandalism at the school, the officer became suspicious and followed the truck. The truck made several turns and finally drove into a residential area and down a street ending in a cul-de-sac. The truck "hesitated" for quite a while in the cul-de-sac, and then, as the officer's car approached, quickly pulled into a driveway and stopped. The officer pulled up behind the truck, got out of his car, and walked up to the driver's side window. There were two boys and two girls inside and the officer noticed that the driver's eyes were bloodshot and there was a strong odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. The officer asked if anyone lived in the house and they all said no.
The officer asked A.A., who was driving, to get out of the truck. When questioned, both A.A. and J.H. admitted to drinking a "couple of beers." A.A. agreed to submit to a field sobriety test. A.A. was able to complete two of the tests but failed the horizontal gaze and nystagmus test. Based on this and A.A.'s admission that he had been drinking, his demeanor and bloodshot eyes, and the strong odor of alcohol on his breath, the officer arrested him for DUI. A.A. later agreed to take an Intoxilyzer test that showed his blood alcohol content to be 0.025 percent.
Officers found a plastic container that had recently been used to smoke marijuana under the driver's seat and some loose marijuana on the floor of the truck "in the area of the driver's seat." The officer stated that one of the girls admitted to bringing the marijuana and told the officer they had smoked it all.
1. In their first enumeration of error, A.A. and J.H. claim the juvenile court erred in denying their motion to suppress all evidence because it was the result of an illegal detention. " '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.' " Allenbrand v. State, 217 Ga.App. 609, 458 S.E.2d 382 (1995). But, where the evidence is uncontroverted, as it is in this case, and no question about the credibility of witnesses is presented, the trial court's application *371 of law to the undisputed facts is subject to de novo appellate review. Vansant v. State, 264 Ga. 319, 320, 443 S.E.2d 474 (1994).
Appellants argue that the stop was illegal because the officer had no reasonable, articulable suspicion that they were involved in any criminal activity.
There are three tiers of police-citizen encounters: (1) communication between police and citizens involving no coercion or detention and therefore without the compass of the Fourth Amendment, (2) brief seizures that must be supported by reasonable suspicion, and (3) full-scale arrests that must be supported by probable cause. In the first level, police officers may approach citizens, ask for identification, and freely question t
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