People v. Garcia

California Court of Appeal Jan 30, 1975 No. Crim. 6899Published

Before: Brown (Gerald)

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Holding. The court held that a warrantless search of a probationer's residence, conducted pursuant to a valid Fourth Amendment waiver, was reasonable because the police had a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and provided the required notice to the probationer.

Issues

Whether a warrantless search of a probationer's residence is reasonable when police lack probable cause to arrest the probationer but have a Fourth Amendment waiver condition.
Whether the police complied with the notice requirements for a probation search.

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“the probationer who has waived his Fourth Amendment rights as a condition of being granted probation “may have no reasonable expectation of traditional Fourth Amendment protection.””

“the police were not acting in an arbitrary or capricious manner in initiating the search based on Garcia’s waiver”

“Martinez complied with the request provision by notifying Garcia his house would be searched. The search was not unreasonable.”

[1031]

Opinion

BROWN (Gerald), P. J.

Charles Lujan Garcia appeals the judgment after he pled guilty to possessing marijuana for sale (Health & Saf. Code § 11359). He received three years’ probation.

About 7 p.m. on January 23, 1974, two police officers went to a residence in San Diego to serve a warrant on Stephanie Jones. Officer Martinez knocked at the front door while Officer Nicholson went around to the back. From inside someone asked who was at the door and Martinez identified himself as a policeman; Garcia opened the door and in response to Martinez’s questions told him Jones no longer lived at this address although occasionally mail was delivered there for her. From the back Nicholson, seeing a man leaning out the window, yelled to Martinez to enter the house because someone was trying to escape out the back. Garcia invited Officer Martinez into the house; Officer Nicholson came into the house from the back.

There were six men in the house. Martinez assembled them in the living room, asked for identification and inquired whether any of them had been convicted of a crime or had outstanding warrants for their arrest. When Garcia revealed it was his house and he was subject to search and seizure as a condition of probation, Martinez confirmed the information with headquarters, and then told Garcia the house would be searched. The search revealed 16 items of contraband. Garcia’s motions under Penal Code section 1538.5 to suppress the evidence as the result of an illegal search and to dismiss under Penal Code section 995 were denied. Garcia applied to this court for a writ of mandate (4 Crim. No. 14067) which was denied; neither 'the transcript of the preliminary hearing nor the transcript of the hearing to suppress were lodged with the court. Garcia then pled guilty and appealed, claiming there was an illegal search and seizure.

When Garcia waived his Fourth Amendment rights he agreed to “. . . submit his person, property, place of residence or abode, vehicle, personal effects at any time, with or without a search warrant, when requested to do so by the Probation Officer or any law enforcement officer.”

The search of Garcia’s residence was conducted without a search warrant and unlike the situations in

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People v. Garcia

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