People v. Gonzales

Opinion

CROSBY, J. Victor Duron Gonzales pleaded guilty to one count of possession of heroin after his motion to suppress was denied. Notwithstanding the arresting officer’s own misgivings, viewed objectively and considering the totality of the circumstances, we believe there was adequate probable cause to arrest and affirm accordingly.

I

This is the latest in a seemingly endless line of cases springing from drug enforcement activity in the Buena Clinton area of Garden Grove. Sergeant [1188]Kevin Raney was assigned to a special drug unit “try[ing] to lower the crime rate in Buena Clinton.” In the first several weeks of July 1988, Raney encountered Gonzales on several occasions. Defendant admitted he was into drug use, and the officer saw “a growing number of injection wounds on both of the inner portions of his forearms.” Raney warned Gonzales that the “[Buena-Clhiton] area h[eld] nothing for [him and would only get him] into trouble.”

On July 23, 1988, the officer saw defendant in a carport and noted his physical appearance had deteriorated from the previous week. Gonzales looked towards Raney’s vehicle and moved his hand down to his right front pants pocket. Raney approached defendant and asked him what he was doing. Gonzales, who was carrying a bundle of clothes, replied he was searching for a relative’s stolen bicycle. He again moved his hand toward the pocket. Raney saw one-half inch of a “cylindrical rolled up” clear plastic baggy protruding from that location.

Raney’s training and experience in the identification and packaging of controlled substances was considerable. He had seen over 1,300 cellophane bindles containing cocaine or heroin, including 10 occasions where only the top portion protruded. The portion visible in Gonzales’ pocket “was identical to the other bindles that [he] had seen in his career.” Raney thought the packet in defendant’s pocket contained a controlled substance, and he removed it. A white powder, which he believed to be cocaine, was inside. The officer reached into the pocket a second time and discovered another plastic wrapped package. This one appeared to contain heroin. A hypodermic needle fell out of the bundle of clothing Gonzales carried.

Raney testified at the preliminary hearing1 that he did not believe there was probable cause to arrest defendant before removing the first bindle from his pocket. At the suppression hearing he changed his testimony, there claiming he “theoretically, quite possibly” had probable cause before plucking the baggy from defendant’s trousers. Gonzales’ motion to suppress the physical evidence and statements made following his arrest was denied, and he pleaded guilty.