People v. Arter

HERNDON, J.

Appellant was convicted and sentenced to state prison for possession of heroin. His sole contention on appeal is that he was arrested without a warrant and without reasonable or probable cause, so that the incriminating evidence seized in the course of the ensuing search was inadmissible. By stipulation the case was submitted to the trial judge upon the transcript of the testimony taken at the preliminary examination.

On the night of June 13,1958, Donald J. Johnson, the arresting officer, had a conversation with a man to whom he referred as “the foreman.” Apparently the person referred to was the foreman of the Spray Electric Company, appellant’s employer. Officer Johnson testified that he had known this

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informant for approximately one year and believed him to be a user of narcotics. The information imparted to the officer by this informant included the following: that a person known as Jerry Arter worked at the Spray Electric Company as a draftsman; that Arter worked at a front window, and that when a person desired to purchase heroin from Arter, he would walk back and forth past the window on the opposite side of the street until Arter recognized him; that Arter would then leave the establishment, go out to the sidewalk and there make the sale; that Arter was selling heroin at $3.00 per capsule; that Arter usually had the heroin in his possession when he entered the plant to work, and that Arter, himself, was an addict. The informant described Arter as being a slender, dark-haired young man of approximately 25, standing about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches in height. Further, the informant told the officer that Arter lived in a large apartment house on 5th Avenue, just below Pico, near a Sears and Roebuck store, and that Arter drove a black 1958 Volvo sedan which he parked in the garage near the rear of the apartment house.

Shortly after receiving this information, and by way of verifying it, Officer Johnson went to the location referred to by the informant and there found an apartment house similar to that which the informant had described. The officer went to the garage at the rear of the apartment and upon opening the garage found therein a black 1957 or 1958 Volvo sedan. After obtaining the license number of the vehicle, the officer verified its ownership through the Department of Motor Vehicles.