People v. Gonzales

FOURT, J. This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction of a violation of section 11530, Health and Safety Code (possession of narcotics).

In an information filed in Los Angeles County on December 23, 1960, the appellant, with Ralph Carillo Acuna and James Raymond Porter, was charged with the possession of marijuana on or about December 6, 1960. Porter made a motion under section 995 of the Penal Code, which was granted. Like motions were made by the appellant and Acuna. The motions were denied. Appellant pleaded not guilty and trial by jury was waived. Appellant was found guilty as charged and sentence was imposed.

A résumé of some of the facts is as follows: At or about 10:45 p. m. on December 6, 1960, a Monterey Park police officer and his partner saw a 1930 model Ford automobile travelling at a high rate of speed in a 35 mile per hour zone. The Ford ear seemed to weave and its course was erratic. The officers followed the Ford onto the San Bernardino Freeway, where they saw the driver of the Ford ear make unsafe lane changes. They thereupon, by evidencing that they were police officers, caused the Ford to come to a stop. Before the officers arrived at the stopped Ford car they had observed that the driver thereof disappeared from sight for a few seconds. The driver, Acuna, was asked what he had attempted to conceal when he was out of sight and he did not answer. One of the officers, upon looking into the Ford car, saw a brown paper sack extending from under the front seat and asked what was in the sack. There was no reply at first and then Acuna said in effect for the officer to look for himself and stated that it was “hot.” Porter was seated to the right of the driver Acuna and appellant was seated to the right of Porter or, in other words, appellant was next to the front door on the right-hand side of the car. The officer, upon looking at the contents of the paper bag, arrested the three men for the possession of marijuana.

At the police station the Ford car was further searched and two marijuana cigarettes were found in the fold of a blanket which covered the front seat.

Among other statements made to the police, Acuna stated that appellant had come to his house and had told him of an easy way to make some money without working for it; that they were both hard pressed for ready cash and they had gone to Porter’s home and then to Los Angeles where they had purchased some marijuana and headed back to Pomona, where [855]they intended to roll the raw marijuana into cigarettes and sell them. Acuna further stated that he gave the mone;^ to appellant to make the purchase of the marijuana in question.