State v. LEE

Thompson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. All of the issues presented in this appeal, and necessary for our decision, have been decided by the Court of Appeals of Maryland in State v. Siegel, 266 Md. 256 , 292 A. 2d 86 , which affirmed our decision in State v. Siegel, 13 Md. App. 444 , 285 A. 2d 671 . In both cases the questions were thoroughly discussed and there is no need for us to repeat those discussions. These cases held the federal wiretapping law, Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, 18 U.S.C., Sections 2510-2520 , constitutional and that the act was properly implemented by Md. Code, Art. 27, § 125A et seq. and Art. 35, § 94.

These cases also held that the procedure required by the federal act must be strictly followed and that a substantial compliance was insufficient. In the instant case an assistant states attorney 1 applied for an order authorizing the interception of messages received and transmitted over certain telephone lines in Montgomery County. As a result of information received from the wiretaps, search warrants were obtained and physical evidence was seized thereunder tend ²⁹⁹ ing to show the appellees were violating the laws of Maryland pertaining to drugs and marijuana, somewhat euphemistically termed “controlled dangerous substances.” The trial judge in Garrett County, where the case had been removed, granted a motion to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the wiretaps and dismissed the indictments against the appellees. The state appealed contending the federal law