People v. Pipkin

Opinion

STEPHENS, Acting P. J. By information in one count, defendant and a codefendant were charged with the crime of possession of cocaine, a violation of Health and Safety Code section 11500. Defendant pleaded not guilty. His motion under Penal Code section 1538.5 was denied. Defendant personally and all counsel waived trial by jury, and the court found defendant guilty as charged. Probation was denied, and defendant was sentenced to state prison for the term prescribed by law. Defendant appeals from the judgment.

Shortly prior to December 11, 1968, the.federal grand jury at San Diego, California returned an indictment against defendant. There is no transcript of the secret proceedings which led to the indictment. On December 11, 1968, a federal warrant for the arrest of defendant was issued in the District Court for the Second District of California, based on the indictment (Cr. No. 4680).

On December 17, 1968, at about 4:30 a.m., in possession of the federal arrest warrant, Deputy Sheriffs Figueroa and Solerno, together with federal Customs Agent Watson and two or three other agents from the Customs Service, arrived at apartment #14 at 6003 Bryanhurst, Los Angeles, and Agent Watson knocked on the door. Approximately a minute later, defendant looked out the window adjacent to the door. Watson and Figueroa displayed their badges, pressing them against the window, and asked defendant to come to the door. Defendant opened the door, and was placed under arrest at that time. Defendant stated that he wished to go to the bathroom, and Deputies Figueroa and Solerno then accompanied him there. Deputy Figueroa noticed a dollar bill, a piece of brown paper with some loose powder on it, and three to five Number 3 white capsules containing a white, crystal-like powder, inside the toilet bowl, in the water. Deputy Solerno recovered these items from the toilet bowl. Deputy Figueroa noticed that both defendant and codefendant had white powder inside the [193]nasal passages. He was an officer with approximately three years’ experience in the field of narcotics, and knew that one method in which cocaine was commonly used in Los Angeles County was to inhale it through the nose.

After placing defendant under arrest, Deputy Figueroa advised him of his rights,1 after which, in response to questions, defendant stated he understood those rights; that he would give up his right to have an attorney present; and that the “stuff” recovered from the toilet bowl was cocaine.