People v. Stormoen CA2/6

Filed 7/24/14 P. v. Stormoen CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d Crim. No. B253681 (Super. Ct. No. 1423224) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Santa Barbara County)

v.

JERE ALAN STORMOEN,

Defendant and Appellant.

Jere Alan Stormoen appeals an order of probation granted following his nolo contendere plea to possession of concentrated cannabis. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11357, subd. (a).)1 We decide that the trial court properly denied Stormoen's motion to quash two search warrants and suppress evidence of processed marijuana and marijuana plants, among other items seized. (Pen. Code, § 1538.5, subd. (a)(1).) FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Matthews Street Search Warrant On June 8, 2012, Mark Gallagher, a detective in the University of California Santa Barbara Police Department, obtained a search warrant for a search of a warehouse building located at 5910 Matthews Street in Goleta. Gallagher had served as a police officer for 20 years and was then a special agent for the Santa Barbara County

1 All further statutory references are to the Health and Safety Code unless stated otherwise.

narcotics enforcement team. He declared in the search warrant affidavit that Sergeant Mark Vellekamp informed him that he had noticed a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the Matthews Street warehouse on two occasions in May 2012. Vellekamp stated that fans in the rear of the warehouse blew air toward the neighboring residence in which Vellekamp had stood. On May 21, 2012, Gallagher and Vellekamp visited the neighboring residence and, with the consent of the property owner, stood in the backyard near the property boundary. The officers saw a yellow-colored warehouse, heard fans operating, and smelled marijuana. They also took photographs of the warehouse. The officers then drove to the front of the warehouse, which did not have signage identifying it as a business. The warehouse had a security camera placed on the front of the building facing the street approach. Gallagher then requested that Agent Valenti of the county narcotics enforcement team monitor the warehouse. In the early mornings of May 22, 2012, and June 3, 2012, Valenti visited the warehouse and noticed a fresh marijuana odor near the front door. Valenti also noticed the absence of marijuana odor at neighboring properties. Gallagher later checked city business records to determine the owner of the warehouse and the nature of any business there. City records indicated that the address was the office of an automotive repair shop. Gallagher then drove to the warehouse location and found an automotive repair shop in operation directly across the street. Gallagher stated in the search warrant affidavit that licensing the warehouse as an automotive repair shop was a subterfuge to avoid detection by law enforcement. Gallagher also stated that the "mere size of the structure" suggested that "the volume of marijuana being cultivated would exceed any legitimate use." On June 12, 2012, Gallagher and Valenti executed the search warrant and found 200 cultivated marijuana plants within the warehouse, as well as documents bearing Stormoen's name. An automobile registered to Stormoen at a 1231 Chino Street address was parked in front of the warehouse. The officers later spoke with the warehouse property owner who also owned the nearby automobile repair shop. He