People v. May

Opinion

FLEMING, J. People's appeal from a judgment of dismissal entered after order sustaining defendant’s motion to suppress under Penal Code section 1538.5. Prosecution was for possession for sale of marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, § 11359, subd. (a)). The evidence suppressed, [545]several “baggies” of marijuana, was found in the trunk of defendant’s car after an unconsented-to search.

Facts

The arresting officer, a deputy sheriff with some six and one-half years experience, testified that he first noticed defendant’s vehicle at approximately 10:15 p.m. the evening of 10 July 1976. The vehicle attracted his attention because it had amber lights in the wheel wells, a vehicle code violation. Following the vehicle, the officer observed it stop at a red light beyond the intersection limit line, another vehicle code violation. Additionally, when it stopped, the vehicle bounced four or five times, an indication of a possible bad suspension which would also be a safety violation. The officer therefore stopped the vehicle to check the vehicle’s suspension and to issue citations for possible mechanical violations. On approaching the vehicle, the officer observed that the A-arm suspension on the front of the car had been cut, allowing hydraulic tubes to protrude past the frame, and hydraulic tubes or fluid lines were running from the forward shocks towards the rear of the vehicle. The officer had previously checked out some 1,000 vehicles with similar hydraulic systems, and his informal training on the subject and his past experience led him to believe that the suspension system on defendant’s vehicle might be dangerous and in violation of the vehicle code in several respects. Specifically, he was aware that such a system involves a complex array of batteries, electrical pump and compressor with fluid lines, and that if such a system is not installed by an expert, it may be veiy dangerous in that there is oil throughout the system and the possibility of a spark and fire exists. What is more, such a system is usually housed in the trunk, where the needed space exists, and in defendant’s vehicle the gas tank was under the trunk, exacerbating the hazard. In order completely to inspect the suspect suspension system, the officer needed to open the trunk. For safety reasons, he asked defendant and his passenger to exit the vehicle. He then forced open the trunk. In the trunk he did indeed find evidence óf an oil leak, namely a thin film of oil over the interior. He also found, in plain view, several folded “baggies” of a green leafy substance which his experience told him was probably marijuana.