People v. Rogers

• Decision Date: 06 April 1966
• Docket Number: Cr. 10854
• Citation: 241 Cal.App.2d 384,50 Cal.Rptr. 559
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Raymond ROGERS, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 559

50 Cal.Rptr. 559

241 Cal.App.2d 384

The PEOPLE of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Raymond ROGERS, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 10854.

District Court of Appeal, Second District,

Division 2, California.

April 6, 1966.

Rehearing Denied April 28, 1966.

Hearing Denied June 1, 1966.

Herbett L. Forer, Los Angeles, by appointment of the District Court of Appeal, for appellant.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., Doris H. Maier, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.

FLEMING, Justice.

Raymond Rogers was convicted of burglary of the Kahlua Bar and burglary of the Alano Club (Penal Code, § 459), with four prior felony convictions.

Rogers was apprehended while parked at 4 a.m. on a county highway adjacent to the City of Covina. Officer Melton, a Covina police officer who was patrolling Covina businesses abutting the road, noticed Rogers getting into a parked car across the street from establishments which had been frequently burglarized. He stopped his vehicle in the middle of the highway and asked Rogers what he was doing. The latter replied he had just fixed a flat tire. Officer Melton asked where the tire was. Rogers then said he hadn't fixed a flat tire but had pulled off the road to drink a can of beer. As the police officer checked Rogers' driver's license and car registration he noticed cartons and loose packages of candy and cigarettes in the back of the car. He radioed headquarters for assistance and while waiting asked Rogers if he had ever been in prison. Rogers replied he had done time for burglary, petty theft, and second-degree robbery. In a few minutes other officers arrived, and Officer Melton went to the Kahlua Bar, located about 50 feet away in county territory, and found its front door open and its coin machines broken into. He placed Rogers under arrest, searched his car, and found, in addition to the candy and cigarettes, a hammer, flashlight, screwdriver, two six-packs of beer, 21 one-pound cans of Farmer Brothers coffee, and a pea bottle shaker belonging to the Kahlua Bar. Rogers himself was searched at the police station, and the police found $41 in quarters, some with distinctive red markings used at the Kahlua Bar, $5 in dimes, $3 in nickels, other change, and ten keys later identified as the keys to the Alano Club. Cartons of candy and cigarettes and 23 one-pound cans of Farmer Brothers coffee were discovered to be missing from the Alano Club. Rogers was charged and convicted of burglarizing the two premises.

1. Was there probable cause to detain and question Rogers at the scene? Yes. 'It is well established that a police officer in the discharge of his duties may detain and question a person when the circumstances are such as would indicate to a reasonable man in a like position that such a course is necessary to the proper discharge of those duties.' (People v. One 1960 Cadillac Coupe, 62 Cal.2d 92, 95--96, 41 Cal.Rptr. 290, 292, 396 P.2d 706, 708; People v. Mickelson, 59 Cal.2d 448, 450--451, 30 Cal.Rptr. 18, 380 P.2d 658.) Most such occurrences involve persons outdoors at night at times and in areas where one would not reasonably expect to see them and whose behavior on the surface suggests some extraordinary activity. (People v. Machel, 234 Cal.App.2d 37, 43--45, 44 Cal.Rptr. 126 (exhaustive citations).) Here an officer on patrol saw Rogers getting into his car at 4 a.m. at a location where there were neither residences nor open businesses and across the street from establishments which had been frequently burglarized. Although this circumstance did not give the officer probable cause to make an arrest, it did permit him to question Rogers and to investigate what was going on. (People v. McGlory, 226 Cal.App.2d 762, 765, 38 Cal.Rptr. 373; People v. Hanamoto, 234 Cal.App.2d 6, 11--12, 44 Cal.Rptr. 153). His questioning produced contradictory answers, and his investigation disclosed cartons of candy and cigarettes strewn around the back of the car. These circumstances properly aroused the officer's suspicion that a crime had been committed and justified him in detaining Rogers until other officers arrived and an investigation of the neighboring premises could be made. On such investigation the Kahlua Bar burglary was discovered. Probable cause then existed for Rogers' Arrest and for the search of his vehicle arrest and for the search of his vehicle

2. Were Rogers' detention and arrest by a Covina police officer illegal because they took place outside the city limits of Covina? No. A police officer's authority is normally limited to the boundaries of the jurisdiction for which he is appointed. When he acts outside his jurisdiction he is generally acting as a private person. (People v. Martin, 225 Cal.App.2d 91, 94, 36 Cal.Rptr. 924.)

However, criminal offenses which take place just outside the boundary of a particular jurisdiction may be prosecuted within that jurisdiction under authority of Penal Code, section 782: 'When a public offense is committed on the boundary of two or more jurisdictional territories, or within 500 yards thereof, the jurisdiction of such offense is in any competent court within either jurisdictional territory.' Since authority to prosecute crime extends to offenses which take place just outside the boundaries of a particular jurisdiction, we believe that, A fortiori, authority to investigate crime extends beyond the territorial boundaries of a particular jurisdiction in the same manner and to the same extent. Under authority of Section 782 Officer Melton, acting as a police officer, could investigate suspicious circumstances while patrolling the county highway adjacent to the boundaries of the City of Covina and could temporarily detain a suspect on the highway for further investigation in the same manner as though he had discovered him within the territorial boundaries of his own jurisdiction. (People v. Williams, 177 Cal.App.2d 581, 582, 2 Cal.Rptr. 387.)

With respect to the arrest, Penal Code, section 782, likewise authorizes a police officer to make an arrest on or near the boundary of his jurisdiction. Beyond this authority, however, Officer Melton could make an arrest outside his jurisdiction as a private citizen. Penal Code, section 837, authorizes a private person to make an arrest '(w)hen a felony has been in fact committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it.' At the time of arrest Officer Melton had discovered the Kahlua Bar burglary and observed the candy and cigarettes in Rogers' car for which Rogers had no...