Padilla v. State

At a bench trial in the Circuit Court for Cecil County, Louis Charles Padilla, appellant, proceeded by way of an agreed statement of facts and was convicted of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, in violation of Md.Code (2002, 2007 Supp.), § 5-602(2) of the Criminal Law Article (“C.L.”). He was sentenced to seven years of incarceration, with all but three years suspended.

At issue here is appellant’s pre-trial motion to suppress the narcotics seized from a hidden compartment of his vehicle during a traffic stop. The vehicle search occurred after a police dog alerted to the presence…