People v. Rodriguez

GRIFFIN, P. J.

Defendant appeals from judgment of conviction entered upon a jury verdict of guilty of possession of marijuana. He was sentenced to state prison. His co-defendant, Dias, has not appealed.

About 2 a. m. on September 15, 1957, James E. Willis, a narcotics investigator attached to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, was informed that defendant had some nar

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cotics in and about the defendant’s bedroom in a house where defendant lived with Lawrence Dias in Redlands. Officer Willis met the informer, Miss Downs, about an hour later, at which time she stated that she had seen narcotics in defendant’s home at a previous time and that a narcotics party was presently being held at defendant’s residence. Willis and a group of fellow officers were escorted to defendant’s home by Miss Downs. It was observed that the house was lighted, several cars were in the yard and various people were moving about inside and outside the house. Miss Downs was left at the house and told to go inside and see if narcotic substances were still there. The officers were to return in 15 minutes and, if the narcotics were not inside, Miss Downs was to leave the house and notify them of this fact. Upon the officers’ return to the house, Miss Downs was not in sight and the officers were observed by a person outside the house. This person immediately went into the house, whereupon Officer Willis entered the front door of the house and placed the occupants, including defendant, under arrest. Dias was in the front room and defendant was found, fully clothed, in a bedroom adjoining a bathroom. A search was conducted and a little over a pound of marijuana, sufficient to make 350 to 400 cigarettes, worth about $1.00 each, was found under the tub in the bathroom next to defendant’s bedroom. Officer Willis asked the defendant, ‘' Ruben, what is this ? ’ ’ Defendant did not reply. The officer then said, “Ruben, it is marijuana. It is your marijuana. You put it underneath the bathtub where Sergeant Childs just found it.’’ Again, defendant did not respond to the accusation, although the statement was made directly to him. Lupe Lara, one of the persons arrested in defendant’s house on the morning of September 15, 1957, testified that on September 16, in the Redlands city jail, defendant said, with reference to the marijuana found in the bathroom, that he thought they (the officers) had missed it and he didn’t know how they found it.