People v. Evans

Opinion

COLOGNE, Acting P. J.

Pursuant to a plea bargain made after his motion to suppress was denied, defendant David Thomas Evans pled guilty to two counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud (Health & Saf. Code, § 11173, subd. (a)). He appeals after the court granted him probation.

In February 1978, Evans rented a room at the Mission Bay Motel managed by Mr. and Mrs. Bellman. At Evans’ request, Mrs. Bellman drove him to a pharmacy where he paid for a prescription of Quaaludes with the $20 he had. He then had her drive him to Ocean Beach where he took the pills into an apartment which was soon visited by several people. After an hour and a half or so, he returned without the pills and with over $200 in cash.

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Suspicions aroused, Mrs. Bellman and her husband began paying attention to Evans’ activities at the motel. They checked his trash and found numerous empty prescription bottles for about 691 doses of Dilaudid issued over a 50-day period, and 149 doses of Quaalude filled over a 22-day period, with at least 5 different prescribing doctors. They noticed foot traffic in and out of his room normally occurring after he would return from a doctor’s visit. The Bellmans also listened in to telephone conversations had by Evans pertaining to doctor’s appointments scheduled at a rate of as many as two a day, telling when the appointments should be completed and he could be back in business, and discussing quantities and prices. Visitors and callers usually told Evans, “Pete sent me.”

On March 6, the Bellmans called the police and told their suspicions to narcotics task force Officer Thomas L. Shotts. Shotts told the Bell-mans to stop collecting Evans’ trash and listening in on his telephone calls. Shotts then began watching Evans’ activities which included many visitors to his room, a trip to a pharmacy and a delivery of two Quaalude pills to Peter Coward by leaving an envelope at the motel desk. Coward was arrested and other visitors were seen at the motel room.

Shotts and his partner W. Flores put into operation a plan to purchase either Quaalude or Dilaudid from Evans. They knocked on the door and, when it was opened, told Evans they had talked to “Pete” who said they could pick something up there. Evans had a puzzled look on his face and said he did not know “Pete” or what they were talking about. Still at the threshold, the officers repeated the story and said they just saw Pete in the parking lot, at which point Evans opened the door fully and asked them to come in. Inside, they saw several prescription bottles and continued the discussion about who “Pete” was. After about two minutes, other uniformed officers who had been listening to the conversation by radio arrived and knocked on the still open door, announcing their purpose. Shotts and Flores then advised Evans he was under arrest, telling him, “Well, if you’re not going to sell it to us, you’re under arrest anyway.” Evans signed a consent to search form and the officers seized additional evidence in the room.