People v. Barquera

FOX, P. J.

Defendant was convicted of the possession of heroin. It was also found that he had suffered a prior narcotics conviction for which he had served a term in the state prison. He has appealed.

Officer Virgin of the Los Angeles Police Department, Narcotics Bureau, arrested defendant at approximately 9:30 p. m. on January 3, 1961. The officer had been investigating defendant for quite some time. He had stopped defendant on three or four occasions for questioning during that period and, with defendant’s consent, had searched him on these occasions. During this investigation the officer had observed defendant in company with numerous persons connected with the narcotics traffic. Two of them were under indictment for narcotic sales and another was on parole for a narcotics offense.

The officer had also received a letter from the El Paso, Texas, Police Department which requested information concerning defendant and revealed that defendant was engaged in the narcotic traffic between El Paso and Los Angeles. The El Paso Police requested information concerning a café which defendant was believed to have owned. The letter also gave a license number for a motor vehicle that defendant owned. The officer observed defendant in the motor vehicle that was described in the letter.

[727]

Prior to arresting defendant, the officer examined the local police records and discovered that defendant had suffered two prior narcotic convictions.

On January 3, 1961, Officer Virgin observed defendant’s car parked in the vicinity of Ord and New High Streets in Los Angeles. The officer drove around the block and observed defendant talking to a person who had a prior conviction and who, in the officer’s belief, was a narcotic pusher.

Defendant conversed with this person for approximately 10 minutes, returned to his automobile and drove to 5444 Huntington Drive where he parked it in the rear. Upon leaving the car he went to a storeroom under the house next door. Officer Virgin observed defendant put his hand, head and shoulders into the storeroom. After a few minutes defendant went into his own house where he remained for some 15 minutes, after which he emerged and again went to the storeroom. With respect to defendant’s movements in going to the storeroom, then to his house and back to the storeroom, the officer testified that upon each of these occasions it was his opinion, based upon his experience as a narcotics officer, that defendant was either picking up a stash of narcotics or putting a stash down.