People v. Panfili

Opinion

SCOTT, J. On May 26, 1982, appellants Albert Milton Panfili and Anthony Vincent Drago each pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211) and use of a firearm (Pen. Code, §§ 12022.5, 12022, subd. (a)). Each was sentenced to state prison. The guilty pleas were entered after appellants’ motion to suppress evidence under Penal Code section 1538.5 was denied, and the People’s motion under Penal Code section 1538.5, subdivision (j), to overturn the magistrate’s order suppressing evidence was granted.

I

On October 4, 1981, the Stop ’N Go Market in Concord was robbed. The cashier identified appellant Panfili as the man who held him up at gunpoint and escaped with $45 to $50. A passerby observed a man run out and get into what appeared to be a brown Pontiac Catalina. The car, driven by another, sped off.

Later the same evening, a Pleasant Hill 7-Eleven store was robbed: Appellant Drago was positively identified by a store employee as the robber. Another 7-Eleven store, in Concord, was robbed two days later. Appellant Panfili was again identified as the perpetrator of the crime. The employee making the identification had given the robber a number of marked bills, including a $1 silver certificate with pinholes in it. An approaching customer observed the robbery in progress, and memorized the license plate number of the car in which the robber escaped. The customer identified appéllant Drago as the driver.

Within hours, police spotted a brown Pontiac Catalina with the reported license number parked approximately five miles from the most recent robbery. A registration check revealed that the car had recently been sold to an unnamed Concord resident, who was planning to leave the area. An officer entered the car, in which keys, clothing, cash and a wallet were' in plain view, in order to obtain identification of the current owner. Appellant Panfili’s driver’s license and other identification were found in the wallet, on the dashboard; a new bill of sale indicating that the car had been sold to appellant Drago was also found.

[391]Later the same day, the Concord Police Department received information concerning the whereabouts of appellants. The Chico Police Department was immediately contacted, and appellants were arrested in Chico that evening. The Chico force was instructed to set aside the personal property of appellants, so that the Concord investigating officer could look for specific marked bills. One of the bills discussed was found by the arresting officer in Chico, among appellant Panfili’s personal effects. Another was found in appellant Drago’s wallet, after transfer to the Concord jail.