People v. Martinez CA1/4

Filed 12/3/25 P. v. Martinez CA1/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FOUR

THE PEOPLE, A171969 Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (Contra Costa County JESUS MARTINEZ, Super. Ct. No. 012400929)

Defendant and Appellant.

Jesus Martinez appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence pursuant to Penal Code section 1538.5.1 He contends police unconstitutionally handcuffed and pat-searched him while executing a valid search warrant for a car in which he was a passenger. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND2 On March 12, 2024, Concord Police Department Detective David Petty and his colleagues executed a search warrant on a car belonging to Don Mallari based on a domestic violence incident ten days earlier. The warrant authorized searches for any guns on Mallari’s person or in his car or residence.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 The facts are taken from the preliminary hearing transcript.

1

The victim told police that Mallari had attacked her in his apartment ten days earlier, beating her and threatening her with a semiautomatic pistol with an extended magazine. Mallari also kept a rifle behind his bed, and she had seen his roommate and friends carrying guns in his apartment around two weeks before the assault. The victim said that she knew the roommate by the name Sus. Police officers located Mallari’s parked car in his building’s gated lot. Around 7:00 p.m. they saw him get in the car with another man, later identified as Martinez, and drive away. Detective Petty pulled the car over approximately one block away as it turned into another parking lot. Detective Petty believed there might be weapons in the car based on the victim’s report that Mallari and his associates carried guns and Mallari had used a gun when he assaulted her. Wanting to prevent “any type of dangerous situation” for the responding officers and bystanders, he commanded Mallari to get out of the car while he and four other officers aimed their service pistols at the car. Officers quickly handcuffed Mallari and patted him down. Officers then ordered Martinez out of the car. Detective Stephanie Wilkens was aware of the victim’s report about Mallari and his associates possessing and carrying firearms. For “safety purposes,” accordingly, she handcuffed Martinez and pat-searched him. It took “a matter of seconds.” The search revealed a loaded Glock 27 pistol in Martinez’s front waistband. Martinez moved to suppress the evidence obtained in the search under section 1538.5 at the preliminary hearing, arguing the detention was a de facto arrest without probable cause. The magistrate disagreed, finding the circumstances known to the police justified the search and that the