State v. Martinez
| Decision Date | 23 March 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 2,CA-CR,2 |
| Parties | The STATE of Arizona, Appellant, v. Tony A. MARTINEZ and Andrew E. Garcia, Appellees. 753. |
| Court | Arizona Court of Appeals |
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 appellees? Did the use of a 'narcotics dog' constitute an unreasonable search?
The events which culminated in appellees' 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 quantity of marijuana at the residence at 4001 South Mission Road in Tucson, Arizona and that he believed that the marijuana most likely would be sold that evening from the residence. Officer Wolf relayed this information to Officers Escuda, Crossman, Harris and Lawrence, all members of the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad. Officers Crossman, Harris and Escuda were requested by Wolf to place the house under surveillance until a search warrant could be obtained.
Crossman and Harris began their surveillance at 6:15 p.m. Officer Escuda positioned himself in his vehicle at an intersection near the house. At 6:20 p.m., Officer Crossman observed a 1963 white Chevrolet Impala with four teenage males of Mexican descent arrive at the residence. Two persons left the vehicle, went inside and came out within five minutes. One of them was carrying a small object measuring about 12 6 and wrapped in green plastic. On the basis of his previous experience, Officer Crossman believed the substance in the green wrapping was marijuana. He relayed his observations to two other members of the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad by radio and gave them a description of the vehicle leaving the residence. This vehicle was stopped a short time later. A search of the vehicle produced one brick of marijuana and the occupants of the vehicle were placed under arrest. Other members of the narcotics squad were advised of this occurrence by radio.
Just before 7:00 p.m., Officer Crossman observed a large male of Mexican descent leave the residence. The subject got into a white Dodge pickup and drove north on Mission Road until he came to Hardy's Drive-Inn Restaurant located just east of the intersection of Mission Road and Ajo Way. There he met with a subject in a white Pontiac. The two subjects returned to the residence in the white Pontiac. They went inside for about five minutes and then departed.
At about 7:15 p.m. Officer Crossman observed a white over maroon Mercury approach the residence via an alley in the rear and pull into the rear of the residence. Officers Crossman and Harris lost sight of the vehicle after it went behind the residence and did not observe it again until about 8:00 p.m. when it left. Officer Crossman informed other agents in the area of the departure of the vehicle. These agents in turn advised Officer Lawrence (who had arrived on the scene at approximately 7:00 p.m.) to have the vehicle stopped in order to check it for possible marijuana. The stop was accomplished by a uniformed unit near the intersection of Ajo and Park. Appellee Martinez was driving the vehicle and appellee Garcia was a passenger. In the meantime, a search warrant was obtained, the house was searched, and marijuana was discovered inside the residence.
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