People v. Owens CA2/6

Filed 7/24/14 P. v. Owens CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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. B248606 (Super. Ct. No. 2011033313) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Ventura County)

v.

NICHOLAS OWENS,

Defendant and Appellant.

Nicholas Owens appeals the judgment entered after he pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance for sale (Health & Saf. Code, § 11351), and possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm (Health & Saf. Code, § 11370.1, subd. (a)). The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed appellant on three years formal probation with terms and conditions including that he serve one year in county jail. Appellant contends the court erred in denying his motion to suppress under Penal Code section 1538.5.1 We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On the afternoon of September 15, 2011, Ventura Police Officer Eric Jackson was on patrol when he saw appellant driving a 1963 Chevy pickup truck. Officer Jackson observed that the truck's rear license plate was placed in the rear window. The

1 We summarily denied appellant's petition for writ review of the court's ruling. (Owens v. Superior Court, County of Ventura (July 18, 2012, B242378).)

officer did not see any straps, bolts, or anything else holding the license plate in place. From the officer's perspective, "[i]t appeared it was just sitting in the lip, lying up against the back window, leaving it free to swing forward or move about if the vehicle took a quick turn." Officer Jackson decided to conduct a traffic stop to investigate a suspected violation of Vehicle Code section 5201.2 The officer sought to "determine whether or not the license plate was securely fastened and not just lying up against the window in a manner that could have fallen forward or jostled around during the movement of the vehicle." Officer Jackson approached appellant's truck and asked for his license and registration. As appellant was looking for the documents, the officer saw a large machete on the dashboard, a couple of folding knives throughout the cab, and a "push-knife" attached to the underside of the dashboard.3 Officer Jackson became concerned for his safety, so he ordered appellant out of the truck to conduct a patdown search. As appellant was exiting the truck, the officer saw a set of metal knuckles attached to his belt and two folding knives clipped to his pocket. Officer Jackson ordered appellant to put his hands in the air and told him he was under arrest for possession of the metal knuckles (Pen. Code, § 21810). Appellant raised his hands and said he had a gun in his pocket. Another officer who had arrived at the scene as the stop was being conducted searched appellant and removed a loaded .22-caliber revolver from one of his pockets. The officers searched appellant's truck and found (1) a methamphetamine pipe in plain view in a compartment on the inside of the truck's door; (2) several additional knives and a lunch pail that contained a