People v. Garcia CA1/5

Filed 12/16/15 P. v. Garcia CA1/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A143575 v. RAVEN INEZ GARCIA, (Lake County Super. Ct. No. CR-936062-B) Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant and appellant Raven Inez Garcia pled no contest to several narcotics offenses after the trial court denied her motion to suppress evidence uncovered during a traffic stop. On appeal, she contends the court erred in denying her motion to suppress. We affirm. BACKGROUND In June 2014, the Lake County District Attorney filed a complaint charging appellant with possession of methamphetamine for sale (Health & Saf. Code § 11378), transportation of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code § 11379, subd. (a)), possession of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code § 11377, subd. (a)), and possession of drug paraphernalia (Health & Saf. Code § 11364.1, subd. (a)(1)). Appellant filed a motion to suppress evidence. At the hearing on the motion, the prosecution relied on the testimony of Lake County Deputy Sheriff Nick LaVelle, who described a traffic stop involving a car driven by appellant and in which Thomas Peterson

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was a passenger.1 The encounter was recorded on a device attached to LaVelle’s patrol car, and the recording was played during the hearing. LaVelle testified he stopped appellant’s vehicle on June 1, 2014, at approximately 2:10 p.m., because the registration tags on her car were expired. Appellant said she had paid to renew the registration, but had not yet received a new sticker. During this interaction, LaVelle recognized Peterson, who was in the front passenger seat; LaVelle had been a correctional officer at the Lake County Jail while Peterson was an inmate there. Peterson told LaVelle he was out on parole. LaVelle asked Peterson, “You don’t have any shit on you or anything like that?” LaVelle then instructed Peterson to exit the car so he could conduct a parole search; the search uncovered cash totaling $879 and a pocketknife. After Peterson was removed from the car, LaVelle saw through the open car door a small plastic bag containing a white crystalline substance that he believed to be methamphetamine directly behind the passenger seat in which Peterson was sitting. Levelle directed appellant to exit the car in order to determine her involvement in the methamphetamine possession. When appellant stepped out of the car, LaVelle noticed she had “a large object in her right front pants pocket.”2 The deputy was concerned Peterson might have passed appellant a weapon to avoid being found with it during a parole search. He was also concerned because “drugs and weapons go hand in hand.” LaVelle pat-searched appellant and asked her to show him the item in her pocket. Appellant removed a digital scale from her pocket. She said she used it for cooking, but the scale had a white crystalline substance on it. LaVelle handcuffed appellant and took her to the patrol car. Appellant was advised of her Miranda rights. She admitted she had other items on her person, and