People v. Flores

• Citation: 23 Cal.App.3d 23,99 Cal.Rptr. 858
• Decision Date: 24 January 1972
• Docket Number: Cr. 20010
• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Suzanne FLORES, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 858

99 Cal.Rptr. 858

23 Cal.App.3d 23

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Suzanne FLORES, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 20010.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 2, California.

Jan. 24, 1972.

Hearing Denied March 22, 1972.

Richard S. Buckley, Public Defender, James L. McCormick, Charles Gangloff, Edward Van Gelder, Deputy Public Defenders, for defendant and appellant.

Evelle J. Younger, Atty. Gen., William E. James, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ronald M. Weiskopf, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

ROTH, Presiding Justice.

Suzanne Flores was convicted of having in her possession for sale restricted dangerous drugs, amphetamine and sodium secobarbital, in violation of section 11911 of the Health and Safety Code. She appeals from the judgment of conviction which followed a trial by the court consisting wholly of proceedings under Penal Code, section 1538.5.

Respondent has adopted appellant's statement of facts with certain additions. As augmented by respondent's brief, we set forth the facts summarized by appellant:

'Victor J. Terry is a police officer, employed by the City of Los Angeles, assigned to Harbor Division Patrol. On September 6, 1970, around 1:00 A.M., he observed the defendant, Suzanne Flores, driving alone in a vehicle, northbound on Pacific Avenue, near 28th Street. Officer Terry testified that the vehicle was weaving back and forth within the lane, although it never actually crossed over the line marking the traffic lane. Thinking that the driver was possibly under the influence, Officer Terry stopped the vehicle.

'After stopping the vehicle, Officer Terry observed no symptoms to indicate that Miss Flores and under the influence of anything. He asked to see her operator's license, and explained why he had stopped her. Miss Flores explained that she was looking up an address in a notebook, which she showed to the officer. The address she was looking for, 24th and Denison, was about six blocks north, and Officer Terry instructed her how to get there. Miss Flores then drove off.

'About an hour later, around 2:00 A.M. Officer Terry again saw Miss Flores. Her vehicle, a 1963 F--85 Oldsmobile, was coming out of a dark ^* alley south of 40th Street and Pacific, about 15 blocks south of where he had observed her the first time. Officer Terry estimated the speed of the vehicle in the alley at about five miles an hour.

'Officer Terry then testified that as the vehicle entered the street, Miss Flores looked at him, appeared 'to have a startled look on her face', then turned right onto Pacific, heading north.

'Officer Terry, who had been heading southbound on Pacific, then made a u-turn, put on his red lights, and pulled in behind Miss Flores. He testified that his reasons for stopping her were that the area was a high burglary area, that a woman had been seen in a car in two reported burglaries, and that they taught him at the police academy that women will sometimes act as lookouts in burglaries. After he pulled behind her vehicle, about 50 to 75 feet behind, he hit his horn and flicked on his high beams.

'According to Officer Terry, Miss Flores then looked back at him, looked forward, then turned right on to 40th Street. She went past a parking space at the corner, and went down almost a block and a half before she stopped the vehicle. During that time Officer Terry observed Miss Flores to lean to the right of the vehicle so that he lost sight of her right shoulder. He could not see her right hand, but her head moved over to the center of the front seat. She also passed a second place where she could have parked.

'When Miss Flores stopped her vehicle, Officer Terry asked her to exit the vehicle, which she did via the driver's door. Officer Terry asked her to step to the rear of the vehicle, went toward the passenger side, and opened the door. ^* He testified that he did so because '* * * I wasn't sure what it was she had placed up front. I thought possibly a weapon, or any number of things.' Miss Flores came between the officer and the door, stopped him from entering, and told him he didn't have the right to search her vehicle.

'Officer Terry told her she would have to get out of the way, and as he grabbed her wrist and walked her back to the police car, she yelled out, 'George, George, they have got me.' Officer Terry then returned to her vehicle. He testified that this conduct added to his suspicions, that a weapon or contraband had been placed in the glove box, because of the furtive movement he had seen before.

'The only persons around were two girls who were exiting a house across the street. Officer Terry opened the door to the vehicle again, and observed the glove box. He opened the door to the glove box, and observed a small brown paper bag on top of some papers. He removed the bag, which had small bumps on it, and looked inside. He couldn't recall if he had to open the bag all the way or not. Inside the bag were twenty to thirty separate packages, each one containing fifty or sixty red and white pills.

'Officer Terry ascertained that the vehicle was registered to Miss Flores, then arrested her for possession of dangerous drugs for sale. In the trunk he found thousands of pills, wrapped up in a large baggie, which he took to Harbor Division station.

'By stipulation, policewoman Ephraim testified that she searched the defendant after she was arrested, and recovered a vial of red capsules from her bra. ^* Also, by stipulation, F. James Bearhart testified that he examined 4,000 red pills which he found to be secobarbital, and 13,500 white pills which he found to be amphetamine.

'Frederick Carrozo testified that in his expert opinion, the amphetamine and secobarbital was possessed for sale.

Appellant challenges the lawfulness of her second detention, contending that none of the factors relied upon by Officer Terry constituted the requisite legal basis for her, or any, detention. However, the factors which were present may be listed as follows: (1) darkness, to wit: a dark alley at 2 a.m. (People v. Cruppi, 265 Cal.App.2d 9, 12, 71 Cal.Rptr. 42;) (2) the area was one in which several burglaries had been committed, two of which had involved a woman in a light colored vehicle (the officer had information that burglaries had been committed that very evening); (People v. Manis, 268 Cal.App.2d 653, 660, 74 Cal.Rptr. 423); (3) her movement, after the signal to stop had been given, toward the right of the vehicle, and, significantly, her act in driving...