People v. Boyd CA1/2

Filed 3/19/14 P. v. Boyd CA1/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A140106 v. MARVIN BRUCE BOYD, (Sonoma County Super. Ct. No. SCR-623002) Defendant and Appellant.

I. INTRODUCTION After entering a no contest plea to two counts of an information charging unlawful possession and transportation of marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 11359; 11360), appellant was given a suspended sentence and placed on 36 months probation. He then filed a timely notice of appeal from the trial court’s earlier order denying his motion to suppress, brought under Penal Code section 1538.5 (section 1538.5). He also filed a brief pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436, asking this court to review the record below and determine if there are any issues deserving of further briefing and then review by this court. We have done so, but have found no such issues and hence affirm the judgment of the superior court, including the sentence imposed.

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II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND At approximately 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. on August 7, 2012,1 Petaluma Police Officer Jason Jucutan was driving his patrol car southbound on U.S. Highway 101 just south of Corona Road in Petaluma. At that time and place, he saw a black Ford Taurus driving in the fast lane at “an abnormally slow speed,” i.e., “approximately 45 miles per hour,” although the posted speed limit at that location was 55 miles per hour. Soon thereafter, the posted speed limit on southbound U.S. 101 increased to 65 miles per hour but the Taurus stayed in the fast lane and did not speed up, thus—according to Officer Jucutan— impeding the traffic of six other vehicles. Because that slow speed was a Vehicle Code violation, the officer conducted a traffic stop, and the Taurus moved off the highway. When Officer Jucutan approached the driver’s side of the Taurus, he noticed “that there was odor of unburnt marijuana coming from within the vehicle.” The odor was, according to his testimony, “strong.” There were three people in the car, including appellant who was in the left rear passenger seat; all three were asked to show their identity, and did. The officer then asked the driver “how much marijuana was in the vehicle,” and Boyd replied that “there’s a few loose marijuana buds, and he showed them to me,” having removed them from the center console in the rear passenger seat. Appellant also had a marijuana cigarette in his right ear. Officer Jucutan then asked if any of the occupants of the car had a medical marijuana recommendation, and appellant said that he did. The officer then ordered all three men out of the car so he could search it; he did so based on the unburnt marijuana odor he smelled coming from the car, and the amount of marijuana that appellant had shown him. Included in his search was the trunk of the car, where he found two large garbage bags; when he opened them, he found that they contained what was later measured to be “32 pounds of marijuana, separated in one-pound bags.” He also found a