People v. Pleasant

Opinion

O’ROURKE, J. After the magistrate and the trial court denied a motion to suppress evidence (Pen. Code, § 1538.5),1 a jury convicted Monet Cleon Pleasant of being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 12021, subd. (a)(1)) and possessing an assault weapon (§ 12280, subd. (b)). In a bifurcated hearing, the court found he had a strike prior. (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 668, 1170.12.) The court dismissed the strike prior, sentenced Pleasant to the two-year middle term for being a felon in possession of a firearm, stayed execution of sentence, and placed Pleasant on three years’ probation including a condition he serve 365 days in custody. It stayed sentence for possessing an assault weapon. Pleasant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence.

FACTS

On November 22, 2002, San Diego police officers and sheriff’s deputies went to the residence of Ella Pleasant (Ms. Pleasant) at 1515 50th Street to conduct a probation search. After being admitted, Officer Michael Pridemore conducted a safety sweep. He came upon a locked door. Pridemore asked Ms. Pleasant if she had a key to the door. She told him it was her son’s room who was not home and her keys were on the dresser in her room. Pridemore retrieved the keys from the top of the dresser and opened the locked room. He did not recall Ms. Pleasant objecting to his conduct. In the room, Pridemore looked under the bed and found a rifle.

[197]DISCUSSION

Noting that the magistrate found that discovering the gun was not part of a valid protective sweep, Pleasant contends the search waiver given by his mother as a probation condition did not justify officers to enter his locked bedroom, especially since they did not make a good faith effort to determine whether the bedroom was an area of the residence within his exclusive control. Therefore, he contends, evidence discovered in the bedroom should have been suppressed.

The superior court reviewed the transcript of the preliminary hearing in determining whether to grant or deny the motion to suppress. (§ 1538.5, subd. (i).) The trial court’s responsibility is to determine the facts surrounding the seizure. On appeal, we review such findings under the substantial evidence test. The legal effect of the facts we consider de novo. (People v. Alvarez (1996) 14 Cal.4th 155, 182 [58 Cal.Rptr.2d 385, 926 P.2d 365].) Under California Constitution, article I, section 28, subdivision (d), we review challenges to the admissibility of evidence obtained by police searches and seizures under federal constitutional standards. (People v. Ayala (2000) 23 Cal.4th 225, 254-255 [96 Cal.Rptr.2d 682, 1 P.3d 3]; People v. Bradford (1997) 15 Cal.4th 1229, 1291 [65 Cal.Rptr.2d 145, 939 P.2d 259].)