People v. Zamora

FOX, P. J.

Defendant was convicted of having possession of marijuana, on or about June 24, 1960, in violation of section 11530, Health and Safety Code. He has appealed from the judgment and sentence.

Officer Vetter and certain other officers from the Police Department of the City of Downey "were in a residence at 12609 La Beina in that city on the above date. They had been in this residence for approximately an hour and had effected an arrest for possession of narcotics. At approximately 7 :45 p. m. defendant, accompanied by his wife, drove into the driveway. Defendant got out of the car, came to the front door, and knocked. The door was open, but the screen door was closed. Officer Vetter, who had arrested defendant for narcotic addiction and possession of narcotic paraphernalia in 1957, recognized him. The officer opened the screen door

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and said, “Hi, Ray. Come on in.” At this point defendant “made a step toward the door, hesitated [and] turned around toward the vehicle ...” At this time the officer noticed the car that defendant had driven into the driveway and observed Mrs. Zamora jump from the passenger side of the front seat of the car into the driver’s seat, start the car and attempt to back out of the driveway. Officer Vetter called to Detective Carberry “to take” Mr. Zamora. Vetter then undertook to stop the car. With gun in hand, he twice commanded Mrs. Zamora to halt; that they were police officers. She traveled some 25 feet but made no attempt to stop until the officer reached the driveway and made a diving motion into the car through the left front window and turned off the ignition. The officer then asked Mrs. Zamora to alight from the vehicle, which she did. Thereupon the officer observed two packages on the front seat between the passenger and driver’s positions. They were wrapped in newspapers and were observable from outside the car. The officer then said to Mrs. Zamora, “What are the packages?” She replied, “You know what they are as well as I do.” He then picked up the packages and opened them. They contained what appeared to be a greenish-brown substance which resembled marijuana, which it proved to be. He exhibited to Mrs. Zamora the contents of these packages. She admitted that the substance was marijuana and that it had been purchased approximately an hour previously in the Firestone area. The officer then confronted Mr. Zamora with the packages. He stated that he knew they contained marijuana, and that it was in the car. He also stated that it had been purchased in the Firestone area approximately an hour earlier. The officer recalled that defendant’s name had arisen in many narcotic investigations during the last two years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Zamora were then arrested and transported to the Downey police department.