People v. Rodriguez

HERNDON, J.

Appellant Gonzalez and one Rodriguez were jointly charged with possession of heroin. Rodriguez entered a plea of guilty. Appellant pleaded not guilty, waived a jury trial and stipulated that his cause might be submitted on the transcript of the proceedings at the preliminary hearing. Pound guilty as charged, he appeals from the judgment and from the order denying his motion for a new trial.

Appellant’s primary contention is that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction for the reason that the room in which the arresting officers found narcotics and paraphernalia designed to facilitate the use thereof was not shown to have been under his dominion and control. Conceding that the incriminating evidence was found in his immediate presence, appellant nevertheless argues that his dominion and control over it was not sufficiently established.

A brief review of the record will suffice to show that the evidence was entirely sufficient to support the finding of the trial judge that appellant not only had dominion and control over the contraband, but that he was preparing to receive an injection of it into his arm at the time the officers entered the room.

On March 31, 1959, at about 3 p.m. Officers Burkland and Aguirre approached a women’s rest room in Elysian Park in Los Angeles. They observed a person known as Ira Lamb standing outside. When Lamb saw the officers approaching he yelled something and ran. Officer Aguirre grabbed Lamb in a futile attempt to apprehend him. Officer Burkland immediately entered the rest room and observed Rodriguez fully dressed, seated on the last toilet bowl with his hands in the water.

Officer Burkland testified that he pulled Rodriguez off the toilet “. . . and inside of the toilet floating on the top of the water, I observed several pieces of balloon fragments and several pieces of gelatin fragments, appearing to be portions of a number 5 gelatin capsule or capsules. . . . [A]t the bot

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tom of the toilet boAvl itself, inside of the toilet bowl, Avas Avhat appeared to be an aluminum measuring spoon. On the concrete floor, about an inch and a half or two inches away from the toilet itself, I observed a gelatine capsule filled with a Avhitish powder, along with an old piece of rag of some sort, possibly an old handkerchief. I took Rodriguez away from the toilet and on the window ledge near a wash basin, which was directly across from the toilet itself, I observed an eye dropper filled with a muddy sort of liquid. . . . There were several pieces of a rubber band and a portion of a match book cover. ’ ’