People v. Rios CA4/3

Filed 4/8/16 P. v. Rios CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G050904

v. (Super. Ct. No. 14CF0007)

JEFFREY PAUL RIOS, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, M. Marc Kelly and Thomas A. Glazier, Judges. Affirmed. Leonard J. Klaif, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland and Warren J. Williams, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

I FACTS The information charged defendant Jeffrey Paul Rios with one count of possessing methamphetamine on December 31, 2013. Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence(§ 1538.5). Prior to testimony on the motion heard by Judge M. Marc Kelly, the parties stipulated the police officer did not have a warrant. The court denied the motion to suppress evidence and defendant subsequently pled guilty to the possession charge. Deputy Sheriff George Townsend testified he was in uniform and on duty with his partner about 10:00 p.m., on December 31, 2013. They were in a patrol car as they checked the rear parking lot of a Stater Bros. market.Townsend saw an Acura four- door vehicle. Donald Welch, who he knew was on probation, was seated in the right front passenger seat. He had contacted Welch a day or two earlier in the same area. Defendant was standing behind the Acura. Townsend asked who the vehicle belonged to, and defendant said it belonged to him; he said he bought it the preceding Friday. Townsend testified he did not remember the name of the person defendant said sold him the Acura. The deputy ran a record check on the vehicle and “it came back out of the City of Orange.” Registration information, however, showed there had been a release of liability on the vehicle. Townsend had the Orange Police Department send someone by the registration address to determine if the person who signed the release of liability knew the location of the Acura. Townsend suspected the vehicle may not belong to defendant because the car was in a back parking lot where he had not seen the vehicle before, and the person defendant said he bought the vehicle from was not the same person on the release of liability form. The deputy asked defendant’s permission to search him. Defendant consented to a patdown search. Townsend found no contraband on defendant. He then had defendant sit on the bumper of the patrol car while he made contact with Welch.