People v. Valdez

• Docket Number: C098054
• Decision Date: 28 December 2023
• Parties: THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. EDUARDO VALDEZ, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

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THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
EDUARDO VALDEZ, Defendant and Appellant.

C098054

California Court of Appeals, Third District, Yuba

December 28, 2023

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

(Super. Ct. No. CRF2200624)

Wiseman, J. ^[*]

Defendant Eduardo Valdez flipped his car, spun out, hit a road sign, and left the scene of the accident. An officer apprehended him, searched his backpack, and found a loaded magazine, a loaded handgun, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and burglary tools. The officer found more methamphetamine in defendant's pants pocket. After the trial court denied his motion to suppress, defendant pleaded no contest to possession of a controlled substance with a firearm, possession of burglar's tools, and hit and run. On appeal defendant contends that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress

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because there was no lawful search incident to arrest and the inevitable discovery doctrine did not apply. We will affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

At the motion to suppress and preliminary hearing, California Highway Patrol Officer Billy Saukkola testified that on a morning in March 2022 he responded to a report of a hit and run. A gray Chevrolet Camaro was rolled over onto its roof and in a ditch. The Camaro had knocked over a road sign when it spun into the ditch. The person who reported the hit and run said that the driver was walking northbound away from the car. Dispatch told Officer Saukkola that the driver was described as a male with a beard and wearing a baseball cap, blue jeans, and a black shirt. Dispatch also told Officer Saukkola that the person walking away from the Camaro had an injury to his arm. While Officer Saukkola spoke to emergency services personnel, who also reported to the scene, a driver going southbound yelled out the window, "Your driver is over at the gas station." Officer Saukkola got in his patrol car and drove northbound to the gas station approximately one mile from the Camaro.

When Officer Saukkola got to the gas station, he saw defendant talking to a hotel employee. Defendant matched the description of the driver from dispatch and had a cut on his right arm that was bleeding a lot. The bleeding was serious enough that Officer Saukkola thought defendant needed immediate medical attention. Defendant also had a black backpack next to his left foot. Officer Saukkola asked defendant if he was the driver of the Camaro, and defendant replied that he was the right front passenger. Officer Saukkola noticed that people were coming in and out of the gas station, but there were two people, a man and a woman, close to him who were intently watching him speak to defendant. Officer Saukkola asked what they were doing, and they said, "Just watching." When Officer Saukkola asked if they knew defendant, they said they did not. When Officer Saukkola asked defendant if he knew the man and woman watching them, he also

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said he did not. At this point, Officer Saukkola was concerned because he was alone with no other law enforcement officers nearby.

Officer Saukkola got on the radio and called for medical assistance for defendant. While Officer Saukkola was on the radio, the woman walked past him and defendant, and without stopping, picked up the black backpack and walked into the convenience store. Shortly thereafter, medical assistance arrived. Officer Saukkola wanted to follow the woman into the store, so he told the medical responders to not let defendant go anywhere. Officer Saukkola testified that he had reason to believe under the totality of the circumstances that the backpack possibly contained contraband, drugs, or guns that could be destroyed. Officer Saukkola testified that he considered defendant to be detained at this point, but he did not pat him down as he normally would, because defendant was covered in blood. Officer Saukkola did not handcuff defendant either before following the woman into the store, because "he was being treated for a pretty serious wound that was bleeding heavily."

Officer Saukkola found the woman in the store and asked her if the backpack was hers. She responded that it was defendant's, and defendant had asked her to grab it for him. While Officer Saukkola reached for the backpack, he felt a man standing over his shoulder. When Officer Saukkola turned to face him, the man told the woman to give Officer Saukkola the backpack. After the woman gave Officer Saukkola the backpack, she and the man walked out of the store, got in their car, and left. Officer Saukkola testified that again, under the totality of the circumstances, he had "a bad feeling about what [was] in [the] bag." Officer Saukkola was still the only law enforcement officer at the scene, there were a lot of people at the convenience store, and he did not know whether the woman and the man were still in the area or whether anyone else was involved in the hit and run.

Officer Saukkola walked outside the store and unzipped the backpack. He was standing approximately five feet away from defendant, who was still being treated by

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medical services. When Officer Saukkola unzipped the backpack, he saw a clear plastic magazine with rounds in it. Officer Saukkola immediately handcuffed defendant's uninjured arm. At this point, another officer arrived to assist. Officer Saukkola asked the other officer to hold defendant's handcuff while he searched the backpack. Officer Saukkola then also found a loaded handgun, approximately 40 grams of methamphetamine, needles, scales, cell phones, a shaved key, screwdrivers, and sharpened utensils. Officer Saukkola testified that at the time he searched the backpack, he believed defendant had...