People v. Barber
| Decision Date | 15 April 1988 |
| Docket Number | F007113,Nos. F006947,s. F006947 |
| Citation | 200 Cal.App.3d 378,245 Cal.Rptr. 895 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. William Richard BARBER, et al., Defendants and Appellants. |
On October 24, 1985, the Tulare County District Attorney filed information No. 23508 charging appellants William Richard Barber and Rebecca Bledsoe with selling or furnishing cocaine in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11352 (count I); transporting cocaine in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11352 (count II); possessing cocaine in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11350 (count III); and as to appellant Barber only, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle while in a public place and on a public street in an incorporated city in violation of Penal Code section 12031, subdivision (a), a misdemeanor (count IV).
A jury trial commenced on February 10, 1986. The trial court denied Bledsoe's motion to sever her trial from appellant Barber's trial and granted her motion to sever count IV. Thus, the ultimate disposition of count IV is not a part of this appeal.
The jury found Bledsoe not guilty of counts I and II but convicted Bledsoe of possession of cocaine as charged in count III. The jury found appellant Barber guilty of counts I and II but not guilty of count III. The lower court suspended imposition of appellants' sentences and placed each appellant on three years probation. Barber was ordered to serve 180 days in custody with credit for 2 days served as a condition of probation.
Each appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.
This court consolidated the two cases for purposes of appeal on June 16, 1986.
On August 15, 1985, Sergeant Santos and three other Tulare County sheriff's department undercover narcotics officers were conducting an undercover surveillance at a Motel 6 in Porterville, California, when appellant Barber arrived with a friend named Sam Makinson. Barber and Makinson were observed carrying police equipment and beer into a motel room. Appellant Barber was also observed loading a .38 caliber revolver. Makinson advised Santos that Barber was a policeman with the Visalia Police Department. Sergeant Santos asked Barber for a beer. Barber responded he did not have any beer but that he could "do some lines" meaning provide cocaine. Barber indicated they were going to have a party and invited Santos to come and obtain some cocaine. Sergeant Santos asked Barber if he could get a gram of cocaine and Barber said he would be able to get it in 30 minutes. Barber and Makinson then left. The transaction was never consummated, however, since the officers continued with their original surveillance and left the area.
On August 20, 1985, Sergeant Santos and three other undercover narcotics officers were at a Taco Bell restaurant in Porterville eating their dinners outside on the patio when they observed Barber walk up to the order window. They recognized him as the person who had offered to furnish Sergeant Santos cocaine at the Motel 6 on August 15. Sergeant Santos gestured indicating a desire to speak to Barber. When Barber approached Sergeant Santos, Santos indicated to Barber he wanted to buy a gram of cocaine. Barber replied it would cost $100 and Santos should meet him at the car wash on Olive Street in 20 minutes.
Barber received his order of food and left the Taco Bell parking lot in a white pickup truck accompanied by Rebecca Bledsoe.
Approximately one-half hour later, Barber arrived at the designated car wash driving the same white pickup truck. Bledsoe was still a passenger in the truck. Sergeant Santos approached the pickup truck from the passenger side. Barber instructed Sergeant Santos to follow him to Long John Silver's fast food restaurant where he could purchase the cocaine. The two vehicles proceeded to the restaurant where they parked next to each other. Sergeant Santos exited his vehicle and approached the pickup truck on the driver's side. He gave $100 to Barber. Barber then took four bindles, later determined to contain .9 grams of cocaine, from Bledsoe's purse and handed the bindles to Sergeant Santos.
Sergeant Santos asked Barber if the cocaine was "good stuff." Barber responded affirmatively saying it was "good coke" and was "better than 96 percent."
Sergeant Santos testified Rebecca Bledsoe observed the entire transaction, was in a position to overhear the entire transaction and, as Barber drove away in the pickup truck, she told Sergeant Santos to "have fun."
Appellants were subsequently stopped and arrested. Bledsoe's purse was searched at the Porterville sheriff's substation and another bindle containing a quarter gram of cocaine was found in her wallet. The $100 of marked bills given to Barber by Sergeant Santos was found in the ashtray of the truck.
Barber waived his Miranda 1 rights and admitted to Sergeant Santos the selling of the four bindles of cocaine but denied Bledsoe was involved in the transaction. He claimed no knowledge of her possession of cocaine. Barber also admitted he was not a police officer but admitted to passing himself off as a Visalia police officer.
Appellant Barber presented a defense of entrapment.
Seventeen-year-old Steve Rauschul testified he had known Barber for three years. He saw Barber ordering food at the Taco Bell on August 20. He heard Santos call Barber over to his table by whistling at him. Barber approached and Rauschul overheard one of them asking Barber to sell them some "dope." Barber initially refused but the men were insistent. Barber ultimately acquiesced and told them to follow him to the car wash. Rauschul did not hear anyone mention a price. Rauschul also stated Bledsoe was with Barber at the time. He described the men as tough-looking and "scummy."
Barber testified he first met Santos and the other undercover officers on August 15, 1985, at a Motel 6 in Porterville when he and a friend, Sam Makinson, rented a room for a local party. The men, who were not in uniform, approached him as he and Makinson were entering their motel room. He was asked by the undercover officers if there was going to be a party and if "coke whores" would be there. The officers asked him if he knew where they could buy some cocaine. He stated he did not and then left with Makinson.
Barber testified that when he arrived at the Taco Bell on August 20 with Rebecca Bledsoe, he heard Santos call him over as he placed his food order. He eventually recognized Santos from the incident at the Motel 6. Santos asked him about buying cocaine but Barber declined saying he did not sell cocaine. Santos then asked him if he knew how he could "score" as he wanted to party that night. Barber said he spotted an individual driving by whom he knew sold cocaine. Under pressure from Santos, Barber admitted he could obtain some cocaine from that individual. Santos suggested the price of $100 and Barber said he thought that would be enough. Barber then told Santos to meet him at the car wash.
On his way to the car wash, Barber obtained the four bindles from the person he had seen. He was unaware of a fifth bindle. A fifth bindle was not a part of his transaction with his supplier. Barber testified Rebecca Bledsoe was unaware of the conversation with Santos or anyone else.
Barber admitted retrieving the cocaine bindles from the pickup truck at Long John Silver's restaurant but denied getting them from Rebecca Bledsoe's purse. He obtained them from the seat of the car. He put the money he received from Santos in the ashtray and planned to give it to his supplier. He denied telling Santos the cocaine was 96 percent pure although he admitted saying it was "good" cocaine.
He testified Santos intimidated him and that Santos and his companions looked like "bikers." He claimed he would not have sold the cocaine unless encouraged to do so by someone else.
Barber also testified that he had enrolled in the police academy at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia and had purchased police gear and a gun on August 13. Barber never attended the academy due to an accident in which he suffered a broken shoulder. He also testified Santos enlisted him as an informant.
Appellant Bledsoe offered no evidence in her defense.
On rebuttal, Santos denied coercing appellant to sell him the cocaine. He reiterated that Barber reached into Bledsoe's purse to obtain the cocaine. Santos denied trying to recruit Barber as an informant.
On February 11, 1986, appellant Bledsoe's trial counsel objected to the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges to excuse four Spanish-surnamed members from the panel. Barber's trial counsel joined in the objection. Bledsoe's counsel then moved for a mistrial based on People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258, 148 Cal.Rptr. 890, 583 P.2d 748. The motion was denied. On appeal, both Bledsoe and Barber contend the trial court erred in denying the Wheeler motion.
In People v. Wheeler, supra, the California Supreme Court concluded that "the use of peremptory challenges to remove prospective jurors on the sole ground of group bias violates the right to trial by jury drawn from a representative cross-section of the community under article I, section 16, of the California Constitution." (Id. at pp. 276-277, 148 Cal.Rptr. 890, 583 P.2d 748.)
The United States Supreme Court has also condemned such abuse of the peremptory challenge as a violation of the right to equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution. (...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Bonilla
...juror's group status, it logically follows he cannot have discriminated on the basis of that status. (See People v. Barber (1988) 200 Cal.App.3d 378, 389, 394, 245 Cal.Rptr. 895.) Bonilla offers no reason, beyond the ratio of Hispanics struck to those in the juror pool, to conclude the pros......
-
People v. Arellano
...56 Cal.Rptr.2d 824 ; People v. Adanandus (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 496, 507–508, 69 Cal.Rptr.3d 25 ; see, e.g., People v. Barber (1988) 200 Cal.App.3d 378, 394, 245 Cal.Rptr. 895 [court noted peremptory challenges are often exercised against teachers by prosecutors on the belief they are deeme......
-
People v. Buckley
...may have felt that her experience with the criminal justice system was reason enough for exclusion. (People v. Barber (1988) 200 Cal.App.3d 378, 394-395, 245 Cal.Rptr. 895.) In addition, there were a number of race-neutral reasons why the prosecutor might challenge James. She had seen Wade ......
-
People v. Adanandus
...[juror was a juvenile counselor with a belief in rehabilitation; properly excused in death penalty case]; People v. Barber (1988) 200 Cal. App.3d 378, 389-394, 245 Cal.Rptr. 895 [juror excused because spouse worked for a liberal attorney was a valid use of a peremptory challenge; another ju......