People v. Superior Court (Karpel)

Opinion

STEPHENS, J.

This is a proceeding in mandamus to compel respondent court to vacate its order granting real parties in interest’s motion to suppress evidence. (Pen. Code, § 1538.5.) The evidence adduced at the hearing on the motion to suppress was as follows:

In April 1975, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department were told by an unidentified informant that real parties in interest Martinez and Karpel were trafficking in cocaine and amphetamines. The informant advised that Martinez lived in an apartment on Coldwater Canyon Boulevard, Karpel in a house on Bakman. Intermittent surveillance maintained at the two locations established that Martinez was a frequent visitor at Karpel’s house and on occasion the two men drove each other’s cars. On July 29, 1975, Martinez sold a quantity of cocaine to an undercover officer.

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No arrest was made at that time.

On August 7, 1975, Martinez, while under surveillance, drove to Karpel’s house and went inside. A short time later Martinez and Karpel came out and walked to Martinez’ car. Martinez was carrying a brown paper sack which he had not had when he arrived. He put the sack in the car, got in and drove off. Karpel went back inside his house. After Martinez had driven about a block and a half, he stopped his car, got out, transferred the brown sack from the car to the trunk, got back into his car and drove on. He was stopped and arrested almost immediately thereafter. Officers removed the brown bag from the trunk of the car and

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found that it contained cocaine. A decision was then made to arrest Karpel and officers proceeded to his house for that purpose. Entry was forced in a manner which complied with section 844 of the Penal Code. The officers seized a vial of cocaine which was in plain sight on a table. Karpel was arrested, as was real party Konstanzer who was also present in the residence. Respondent suppressed both the contraband found in the trunk of Martinez’ car and that found in Karp el’s residence.

The crucial question in the present proceeding, as all parties recognize, is whether the officers had probable cause to search Martinez’ trunk. The People conceded below that absent the seizure of the cocaine from the trunk, the officers would not have had probable cause to arrest Karpel; while in oral argument before this court, counsel for Karpel conceded that if the police properly seized that contraband it provided them with probable cause to arrest his client.