People v. Williams CA2/2

Filed 1/21/14 P. v. Williams CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, B246512

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. SA079149) v.

SHAWN WILLIAMS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Cynthia Rayvis, Judge. Affirmed.

Jerome J. Haig, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Steven D. Matthews, Timothy M. Weiner and Jessica Owens, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Shawn Williams (Williams) appeals from the judgment entered on his plea of no contest to sale or transportation of marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, § 11360, subd. (a)) and possession of marijuana for sale (Health & Saf. Code, § 11359). According to Williams, the trial court erred when it failed to grant his motion to suppress evidence on the grounds that the prosecution’s evidence was obtained during an illegal traffic stop for tinted windows. We find no error and affirm. FACTS The Traffic Stop and Arrest On November 2, 2011, at about 10:40 a.m., Detective Jose Saldana of the Hawthorne Police Department was watching a residence in Gardena as part of a narcotics investigation. Detective Saldana observed Williams drive up in a Buick, pull into the driveway and get out of his vehicle. A passenger emerged from the Buick carrying a blue plastic bin and a cardboard box. Together, they went inside the residence. A short time later, Williams exited the residence while carrying what appeared to be a plastic trash bag. He placed the bag into some garbage cans, and then went back inside. The passenger exited the residence with a taped up cardboard box, placed it in the rear passenger area of the Buick, then drove away in another vehicle. Soon after, Williams left the residence, got into the Buick and drove off. As Williams was driving away, Detective Saldana radioed to Detective Tim Johnson and his partner to “get their own probable cause for [a traffic] stop and initiate a narcotic[s] investigation.” Detective Johnson was informed that Williams’s vehicle had tinted windows. When Williams drove past the nearby location where Detective Johnson was parked facing Crenshaw Boulevard, he saw that the Buick had a dark tint on the front driver’s and passenger’s windows. The tinting came from a film that had been applied to the windows, which made them darker than factory glass. Detective Johnson’s vehicle was equipped with a system that captured video of the Buick. Because of the tinted windows, Detective Johnson initiated a traffic stop. Hawthorne police obtained a search warrant and seized the cardboard box. It contained a