People v. Alvidrez

PETERS, P. J.

The defendant was charged with the sale of narcotics and with several priors. He admitted the priors and was found guilty of the crime charged. He appeals from the judgment.

Appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his conviction. Legally, he could not do so. Various inspectors of the State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement testified that on the day in question they searched an informant and found no narcotics or money upon his person; that they gave the informant $10 in bills, the serial numbers of which were recorded; that they then observed the informant enter' and leave the premises occupied by defendant; that when the informer came out of the premises, he had a bindle of

heroin;

that defendant was arrested and he had in his possession the marked

bills;

that a search of his room disclosed five bindles of heroin and narcotic paraphernalia, and that two other persons were in the room. This evidence, of course, sustains the judgment.

The sole contention of appellant on appeal is that he was deprived of due process of law in not being informed of the name of the informer, and that such point can be raised for the first time on appeal, although no demand for such identification was made in the trial court, nor was there any objection to the failure of the prosecution to disclose the identity.

The case presents the typical informant-participant situation. There can be no doubt that, had proper demand been made for the identity of the informer, and had the request been refused, it would have been reversible error.

(People

v.

Lawrence,

149 Cal.App.2d 435 [308 P.2d 821];

People

v.

Castiel,

153 Cal.App.2d 653 [315 P.2d 79].) It is no longer open to question that in an informant-participant situation, upon demand, the defendant is entitled to be given the name of the informer. But here no such demand was made. It is a well settled rule of law that, with certain limited exceptions, “It is a general rule of appellate review, early established and long adhered to, that questions not raised in the trial court will not be considered on appeal.” (3 Cal.Jur.2d 604, § 140, citing