People v. Superior Court for Humboldt County

• Decision Date: 22 October 1968
• Citation: 72 Cal.Rptr. 261,266 Cal.App.2d 685
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of California, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the State of California FOR the COUNTY OF HUMBOLDT, Respondent, Scott Millen ENGLISH and David Allen Ward, Real Parties in Interest. Civ. 25980.

Page 261

72 Cal.Rptr. 261

266 Cal.App.2d 685

PEOPLE of the State of California, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the State of California FOR the COUNTY OF HUMBOLDT, Respondent Scott Millen ENGLISH and David Allen Ward, Real Parties in Interest.

Civ. 25980.

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

Oct. 22, 1968.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 21, 1968.

Hearing Denied Dec. 18, 1968.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., Derald E. Granberg, Clifford Thompson, Deputy Attys. Gen., San Francisco, for petitioner.

Jerrold Levitin, San Francisco, for real parties in interest.

SHOEMAKER, Presiding Justice.

Petitioner, the People of the State of California, seeks writ of mandate pursuant to Penal Code, section 1538.5, subdivision (o). The sole question is whether respondent correctly granted real parties in interest's motion to suppress evidence.

On the afternoon of November 8, 1967, California Highway Patrol Officers Subberra and Coon were on duty in the vicinity of Garberville. From their patrol car they observed defendants English and Ward driving north on Highway 101 in an old Volkswagon convertible, and that a spare tire was blocking the rear window and no exterior rearview mirrors were mounted on the sides of the car. Such being a violation of Vehicle Code, section 26709, ¹ the officers signaled the Volkswagon to stop, and during the stopping the officers saw that the stoplights at the rear of the automobile were not operating properly.

When the car came to rest, both defendants stepped outside of the vehicle. The officers approached the driver, asked for his identification, and explained the 'mirror' violation to him. Pursuant to Vehicle Code, section 2804, the officers then began to administer a safety check to the vehicle. Officer Subberra sat at the driver's seat of the Volkswagon and operated the safety devices while Officer Coon reported on the efficacy of the equipment. Defendants were not asked by either officer for permission to enter the automobile, nor were they asked to operate the safety devices themselves.

While Officer Subberra was administering the safety test from the driver's seat, he noticed a crack in the windshield on the passenger's side of the car. Concerned that the crack might be in both layers of glass and capable of spreading, the officer left the car, walked around to the passenger's side and viewed the crack from the outside. He then opened the car door to observe the crack from the inside. Upon opening the door, he noticed in the rear of the car a paper sack which contained an open bottle. He examined the bottle to see if it contained alcohol; it did not and he replaced the bottle. At the time the bottle was being inspected, defendant Ward questioned the officer's authority to search the car. The officer's motives in conducting the search were explained to him, and no further objections were made.

Officer Subberra then resumed his inspection of the windshield. In doing so he put his left hand on the passenger's seat in order to support himself, and leaned in to look at the windshield. As he withdrew from the vehicle after the inspection, he looked down and noticed, in plain view, marijuana seeds on the passenger's seat. Defendants were then arrested. A subsequent search of their persons and the Volkswagon revealed 46 packets of marijuana in their possession, which were seized by the officers.

Subsequently, defendants moved to suppress evidence of the marijuana which had been seized at the time and place of their arrest.

Defendants allege that the evidence suppressed in the present case was the product of an unlawful search, and that the officers had no reason to submit their automobile to the safety check which resulted in the discovery of marijuana. Their attack specifically focuses on the conduct of Officer Subberra, who personally inspected the automobile and conducted the allegedly illegal entry. His inspection, they contend, was made without their permission and in violation of the constitutional guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure.

Defendants' arguments, however, are without substance. The officers testified that defendants' vehicle was stopped on the basis of an apparent 'mirror' violation. (Veh.Code, § 26709.) Although the automobile was later found to be equipped with the rearview interior mirror required by statute, the tire blocked vision to the rear. The officers' conduct in requiring the vehicle to stop and submit to inspection was proper. The question of the reasonableness of the officers' conduct is determined on the basis of the information possessed by the officer at the time a decision to act is made (People v. Ker (1961) 195 Cal.App.2d 246, 253, 15 Cal.Rptr. 767; People v. Ingle (1960) 53 Cal.2d 407, 414, 2 Cal.Rptr. 14, 348 P.2d 577. In the present case, the officers decided to stop the Volkswagon only after they noticed that the driver's view to the rear of the automobile was obstructed by the spare tire in the back window, and an apparent violation of the law was manifest. As such, the officers had not only the right, but also the duty to investigate the circumstances of the apparent violation. (People v. Nebbitt (1960) 183 Cal.App.2d 452, 457, 7 Cal.Rptr. 8; People v. Evans (1966) 240 Cal.App.2d 291, 298, 49 Cal.Rptr. 501.)

As the Volkswagon pulled to the side of the road in response to police signals, the officers noted that the taillights did not properly indicate the stop. This mechanical defect, combined with the fact that the tire in the back seat obstructed the operator's rear view of the road, suggested a violation of Vehicle Code, sections 24002 and 24603. ² As such, the officers were authorized to proceed under section 2804 of the Vehicle Code, which directs that 'A member of the California Highway Patrol upon reasonable belief that any vehicle is being operated in violation of any provisions of this code or is in such unsafe condition...