People v. Mills CA3

Filed 5/20/14 P. v. Mills CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published,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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Shasta)

THE PEOPLE, C073687

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 12F5458)

v.

MICHAEL TYREE MILLS,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found defendant Michael Tyree Mills guilty of possession of heroin. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11350, subd. (a).) The trial court found true a strike allegation (Pen. Code, §§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12)1 and three prior prison term allegations (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). Defendant was sentenced to prison for seven years consisting of twice the middle term of two years plus three years for the prior convictions. On appeal, defendant contends there was insufficient evidence that he knowingly had a right to exercise custody and control of contraband located by officers. We affirm.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1

FACTS Prosecution Case-in-Chief The parties stipulated that, in June 2012, “law enforcement had information” that “the address of record for the defendant” was an apartment in Redding. On June 6, 2012, around 6:00 p.m., Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Special Agent John Harrison and Redding Police Department Sergeant Walt Bullington went to that apartment in order to conduct a search. The parties stipulated that the ensuing search was lawful. Defendant was not present when the officers arrived. Two other residents, Priscilla and Michael Bledsoe, answered the door. The Bledsoes directed the officers to a room that they identified as defendant’s bedroom. Sergeant Bullington searched the bedroom closet. On a shelf in the closet, he located a digital gram scale of the sort used for weighing drugs. Also in the closet were articles of men’s clothing including a navy peacoat that was long, “almost thigh length.” Sergeant Bullington searched the pockets of the coat. Inside one pocket he located a statement from a credit union in Redding. The statement bore defendant’s name, the name “James Bledsoe Rep Payee,” and the address of the searched apartment. A representative payee is a person who receives money on behalf of another. The September 2011 statement covered the four days from the account’s opening on the 27th through the end of the period on the 30th. No evidence suggested the presence of more recent statements for the account. Inside the other coat pocket, Sergeant Bullington found “bindle bags,” or clean one-inch or two-inch plastic baggies commonly used for packaging methamphetamine, heroin, and other unlawful drugs. The “bindle bags” were inside a larger bag. Inside the coat pocket, Sergeant Bullington also found a usable quantity of a black, sticky substance suspected to be tar heroin. Testing by a criminalist confirmed that the substance contained heroin with a net weight of 0.05 grams.