State v. Martinez

OPINION

HOWARD, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal by the State from an order granting appellees’ motion to suppress. Two issues are presented: Did the police lawfully stop the car occupied by ap-pellees? Did the use of a “narcotics dog” constitute an unreasonable search?

The events which culminated in appel-lees’ arrest commenced in the late afternoon of July 17, 1975, when Sgt. Werner Wolf of the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad received a tip from a confidential informant with whom Wolf had previous experience and regarded as reliable. The informant told Officer Wolf that he had seen a large…