People v. Saldana

BARNARD, P. J. The defendant was charged with possession of marijuana in violation of section 11500 of the Health and Safety Code. He was further charged with a prior conviction of the crime of smuggling and concealing marijuana, on which he served a term in a federal prison. The public defender was appointed to represent him. He pleaded not guilty, and admitted the prior felony conviction. The jury found him guilty and he personally filed notice of appeal from the judgment. He has been ably represented on this appeal by counsel appointed by this court.

[218]The appellant occupied a two-room house in the rear of a house occupied by his sister and her husband, Louis Rocha. Officers searched this two-room house and found two Prince Albert tobacco cans and a brown paper sack, all of which contained seeds or leafy fragments of marijuana. They also found a whiskey bottle and an envelope containing marijuana in a small shed outside this rear house. They also found a paper sack containing marijuana hidden behind the wallpaper in a lean-to garage at the rear of these premises. Particles of marijuana were also found in several places in an automobile found in this garage. This automobile was owned by Rocha but there was evidence that the appellant had recently used it.

Appellant’s first contention is that the court committed prejudicial error in admitting into evidence the articles above mentioned with their contents. It is argued that a proper foundation for their admission was not established since they were not shown to have been in the appellant’s possession, and that Rocha testified that he had placed these various items throughout his premises. The finding of these various articles containing marijuana in and about the residence of the appellant, and in an automobile used by him, was material to the issues being tried. (People v. Rumley, 100 Cal.App.2d 6 [222 P.2d 913].) The question of whether the appellant had knowledge of them was one of fact for the jury to determine from all the evidence in the case. At the time these articles were admitted in evidence Rocha had not testified, and no prejudical error appears in the admission of this evidence.

It is further contended that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict in that it was not sufficient to show that the appellant had possession and knowledge of these narcotics. People v. Gory, 28 Cal.2d 450 [170 P.2d 433]; People v. Sinclair, 129 Cal.App. 320 [19 P.2d 23]; and People v. Barnett, 118 Cal.App.2d 336 [257 P.2d 1041], are cited in support of this contention. In the first of these cases, the judgment was reversed because of the lack of proper instructions although it was held that the evidence was sufficient. The other two cases involve very different facts from those here appearing.