People v. Wilson

• Decision Date: 27 December 1968
• Docket Number: Cr. 14514
• Citation: 268 Cal.App.2d 581,74 Cal.Rptr. 131
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Virginia WILSON, Defendant and Appellant.

Page 131

74 Cal.Rptr. 131

268 Cal.App.2d 581

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Virginia WILSON, Defendant and Appellant.

Cr. 14514.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 4, California.

Dec. 27, 1968.

Boyd E. Hornor, III, Santa Barbara, Cal., for defendant and appellant.

Thomas C. Lynch, Atty. Gen., William E. James, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Larry Ball, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

JEFFERSON, Associate Justice.

Defendant was found guilty in a jury trial of possession of marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, § 11530). The court granted her probation conditional upon the service of a three-month county jail sentence. She appeals from the order granting probation (deemed a final judgment under Penal Code, section 1237, subdivision 1.).

At about 1:00 a.m. on June 9, 1967, officers from the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department, together with members of the State Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, entered and searched a two-story residence located at 6565 1/2 Del Playa in Santa Barbara. They had a warrant authorizing a search of the premises and of its occupants (including defendant and certain other named individuals), for marijuana.

When they entered Officers Feldman and Honey proceeded upstairs. On the way they passed two females. At the end of a hallway they found a bedroom. Defendant and a bearded male companion were in the bedroom reading. The two officers identified themselves and showed them a copy of the warrant. They did not tell them that they must remain in the room nor did they say that were free to leave.

The officers began a routine search of the room beginning at one end and working around to the other. During the search defendant continued to read a book. While looking through a dresser, Officer Honey found a package of 'zig-zag' cigarette papers (which are often used to roll marijuana cigarettes). He asked defendant if they belonged to her. She answered affirmatively, saying that she used them to make her own cigarettes. The officer did not find any roll-your-own type cigarette tobacco.

As Officer Honey continued to work his way around the room, he came upon a shopping bag in a corner. He observed three metal boxes inside the bag and asked defendant about the contents. She stated that the boxes contained her photograph slides. The officer pulled the boxes out and examined the contents. After confirming that they contained slides as defendant had stated, he looked into the sack once again to make sure that he had removed everything. He observed that there was a folded plastic container in the bottom of the sack. He asked defendant 'What's this on the bottom of the bag?' Defendant, who was sitting about three feet away, said 'Let me see it.' She leaned forward and the officer turned the bag so that she could see into it. After looking inside she answered, 'Grass, I guess.' (The word 'grass' is a commonly used expression meaning marijuana.) After defendant made this statement, Honey reached in and removed the plastic container. After unfolding and examining it he concluded that it did indeed contain marijuana. At this point defendant was placed under arrest and advised of her constitutional rights.

The marijuana found by Officer Honey (which was a sufficient quantity to roll about ten cigarettes) was introduced in evidence.

Defendant testified that she was a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara; she lived in the apartment with two other girls; they often had visitors; three young men regularly ate dinner there; these men had smoked marijuana in the apartment in the past; she tried it but did not like it; she told them not to bring it around any more; she was studying with a friend when the officers entered her bedroom; when her friend asked if they were free to leave, the officers told then, 'No, you just sit right there.'; when the officer found and cigarette papers in the drawer, she pointed out to him the 'Bull Durham' cigarette tobacco nearby; she had purchased the tobacco and papers to see if she could roll her own cigarettes; when the officer asked her what was in the bottom of the sack, she said 'I don't know but it is not mine and I don't know where it came from.'; she never said 'Grass, I guess.'

The evidence is ample to support the finding of guilt and defendant does not contend otherwise.

She maintains, however, that because she had not received a prior warning of her constitutional rights, as required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, the trial court committed prejudicial error in admitting the evidence of her statement 'Grass, I guess' and of the earlier statement admitting ownership of the cigarette papers.

The exclusionary rule of Miranda v. Arizona, supra, applies to statements which stem 'from custodial interrogation.' As to what this phrase means, the Court decharged: 'By custodial interrogation, we mean questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.' (384 U.S. at p. 444, 86 S.Ct. at p. 1612.) The Court thereafter concluded: '(W)e hold that when an individual is taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom by the authorities in any significant way and is subject to questioning, the privilege against self-incrimination is jeopardized. Procedural safeguards must be employed to protect the privilege, * * *.' (384 U.S. at p. 478, 86 S.Ct. at p. 1630.)

The People concede that the procedural safeguards spoken of in Miranda--i.e. advice as to rights and waiver thereof, were not employed before the statements in question were made. It is argued, however, that the exclusionary rule is not applicable because, (1) defendant was not then in custody and (2) the statements were not the product of a process of interrogation designed to elicit incriminating statements.

With respect to the custody point, as the above quotes from the Miranda opinion make clear, all that is required is that the defendant be 'deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.' He need not be in actual custody. The search warrant in this case, which defendant was shown when the officers entered, authorized the search not only of the premises, but specifically authorized the search of her person as well. It goes without saying that defendant was not free to leave the area while the officers were conducting the search of the room. Had that search proved fruitless, defendant herself was a potential subject for search. To accomplish such a search, the officers were authorized to detain her and call in a female officer. The search warrant effectively advised defendant of this fact. Whether or not the officers also personally so informed her, does not alter the situation. Only one conclusion may be drawn from the evidence: From the time the officers entered, defendant was deprived of her freedom of action in a significant way.

In answer to the second argument urged by the People--that there was no process of interrogation, 'The Miranda decision does not readopt the four-point test of Escobedo and Dorado. The Miranda standard is stated in different language.' (People v. Woodberry, 265 A.C.A. 377, 382, 71 Cal.Rptr. 165, 169.) Nothing is said about determining whether there was a process of interrogation designed to elicit incriminating statements. Miranda simply requires custodial questioning. '(C)onsidering the evil against which Miranda is directed, it is the Fact of custodial interrogation rather than its cause or the accusatory nature of the questions asked which necessitates the application of Miranda.' (People v. McFall, 259 A.C.A. 169, 173, 66 Cal.Rptr. 277, 279.)

Having concluded that the statements made by defendant during the search were inadmissible, it remains to be determined whether the error in admitting them was prejudicial. '(B)efore a federal constitutional error can be held harmless, the court must be able to declare a belief that it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.' (Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 828, 17 L.Ed.2d 705.)

Without doubt, the evidence of defendant's statements was damaging to her defense. The statement, 'Grass, I guess' established the presence of one of the elements of the charge, namely, defendant's awareness that what was in the bottom of the sack was marijuana. From her statement admitting ownership of the cigarette papers, which are commonly used to make marijuana cigarettes, a strong inference arises that the marijuana also belonged to her. The same inference may be drawn from her statement admitting ownership of the three metal boxes found in the...