People v. Castro CA2/1

Filed 11/18/22 P. v. Castro CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, B318174

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. PA094950) v.

PHILLIP CASTRO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, David Walgren, Judge. Affirmed. Richard L. Fitzer, 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, Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and Stefanie Yee, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. __________________________________

Phillip Castro appeals from a judgment entered after he pleaded no contest to carrying a loaded, unregistered handgun in a vehicle. He contends a warrantless search of his vehicle, during which a police officer discovered the handgun, did not fall within the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement, and the trial court should have suppressed the evidence from the vehicle search on his motion under Penal Code section 1538.5.1 For the reasons explained below, we reject his contention and affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND I. Castro’s Detention and the Vehicle Search Castro’s various motions to suppress evidence from the vehicle search were based on Los Angeles Police Department Officer Miguel Zendejas’s testimony at Castro’s April 23, 2021 preliminary hearing, which we summarize here. On June 22, 2020, when the vehicle search occurred, Officer Zendejas was assigned to the Foothill Gang Enforcement Detail, and he had been a sworn peace officer for nine and a half years. Around 10:20 p.m., Officer Zendejas and his partner, Officer Organista, were riding in a marked patrol car when they observed two males sitting in a car parked on a public street. Officer Organista “was able to run the registration on the vehicle which came back expired.” As the patrol car approached the parked car, both cars with windows rolled down, Officer Zendejas “noticed there was a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.” He further described it as “the smell of burnt marijuana.” Based on the “expired registration, and pending a narcotics investigation,” the officers initiated a traffic stop.