People v. Campos

WOOD, P. J.

Defendant was convicted, in a non jury trial, of unlawfully possessing marijuana. He appeals from the judgment and sentenee. His contention is that the arrest, search and seizure were unlawful, and that the court erred in receiving the marijuana in evidence.

Officer Virgin testified that on November 18, 1958, about 6 :15 p. m., he saw defendant enter a café on South Main Street in Los Angeles; defendant stayed in there until approximately 7 p. m., when he left the café, crossed the street, and entered an automobile that was occupied by a woman and a child; after he entered the automobile, the officer (witness) and three

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other officers approached the defendant and asked him to get out of the automobile; defendant complied with the request; the witness asked him if his name was “Willie Campos”; he replied, “Yes”; when the witness asked defendant if he had any narcotics on him, he replied, “No”; then the witness asked him if the officers might look; after saying, “Go ahead,” he held his coat open; the officers searched him and found no narcotics on his person; they asked him if he had any stuff in the automobile; he replied, “No”; then they asked him if they might look; he replied, “Go ahead”; they searched the automobile and found a brown bag under the front seat, which bag was full of smaller brown bags; they showed the bag to defendant and asked him what it was; he replied, “Marijuana”; then they arrested him; they had a conversation with defendant at the police station, about 8 :30 p. m. on the day of the arrest, and that conversation was tape-recorded; in that conversation defendant said that he had bought the marijuana that was found in the ear and that the marijuana was his; he also said that he bought the marijuana at 12th and Central, and had paid $50 for six cans of it; he also said that his wife and child, who were in the automobile, did not know anything about the marijuana and they were not present when he picked it up; and he said that he had told his wife that this was “just a robbery beef.”

On cross-examination, Officer Virgin testified that he was looking for “a Willie Campos” that night; he was looking for “a Willie Campos” who was involved with the federal authorities; he had a picture of Willie Campos with him at that time, and it was a picture of the defendant herein; he (witness) had read in a newspaper about a person by the name of Willie Campos, who was involved in a federal ease and who lived on Paramount Boulevard; the “Willie Campos,” who is defendant herein, also lived on that boulevard, but he is not the one who was involved in the federal case; the witness did not know until after the arrest herein, and until he had gone to a newspaper office and read the newspaper article again, that there were two persons by that name; prior to the time he reread that article he assumed that this defendant was the other Willie Campos; he (witness) had no information about this particular defendant on the night of the arrest; he had no search warrant or warrant of arrest.