People v. Delgado

Filed 5/6/22 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B309947

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. BA485514 v.

ROBERT ANDREW DELGADO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Teresa T. Sullivan, Judge. Affirmed.

Leonard J. Klaif, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Jason Tran, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Shezad H. Thakor, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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We must assay probable cause. A fleeting interaction outside a gang hangout led police to illegal guns and drugs. The trail continued to videos of Robert Andrew Delgado directing assaults that jumped minors into his gang. The trial court denied Delgado’s motion to suppress the videos. We affirm. Code citations are to the Penal Code. On July 12, 2019, Larry Burcher swore out an affidavit for a search warrant. We italicize our summary of his words. In 28 years as a police officer, Burcher had conducted hundreds of investigations. He had been the supervising detective in charge of a gang impact team for six years. The Highland Park criminal street gang has been well- established in Los Angeles for more than 40 years. It regularly assaults, robs, and murders people as techniques of intimidation so it can freely sell illegal guns and drugs without fear of reports to police. The gang also extracts “taxes” from businesses. The Highland Park gang has been active in crime. From January to July 2019, for instance, members of this gang committed six robberies, eight shootings, and 12 aggravated assaults, according to police information. During this interval, police seized 10 guns from members of this gang. A well-documented gang hangout is Robert “Loco” Delgado’s house at 510 Toledo Street. Delgado is an active member of Highland Park. Police identified Delgado as a member of this gang as recently as March 14, 2019, when officers from Burcher’s unit spoke to Delgado during a traffic stop. Delgado’s record includes four felony convictions: gang member with a gun, assault with a deadly weapon, carjacking, and possession of a controlled substance for sale. Gang members gather at Delgado’s home on a regular basis.