In Re HM

167 Cal. App. 4th 136, 83 Cal. Rptr. 3d 850
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 29, 2008
DocketB200933
StatusPublished

This text of 167 Cal. App. 4th 136 (In Re HM) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re HM, 167 Cal. App. 4th 136, 83 Cal. Rptr. 3d 850 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

167 Cal.App.4th 136 (2008)

In re H.M., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
H.M., Defendant and Appellant.

No. B200933.

Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Three.

September 29, 2008.

*139 Lea Rappaport Geller, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Susan D. Martynec and Robert M. Snider, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

ALDRICH, J.

H.M., a minor, appeals from the order declaring him a ward of the court (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 602) entered following the juvenile court's findings he possessed a concealable firearm (Pen. Code, § 12101, subd. (a)(1)). The juvenile court ordered H.M. placed in the camp community placement program for a maximum confinement period of three years two months. H.M. contends the juvenile court erred by denying his suppression motion. We disagree, and affirm.

*140 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On July 2, 2007, the People filed a petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 alleging that H.M. possessed a concealable firearm on June 28, 2007. (Pen. Code, § 12101, subd. (a)(1).) H.M. filed a motion to suppress evidence (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 700.1). At a combined hearing on both the suppression motion and the merits, the following evidence was adduced.

On June 28, 2007, at approximately 3:45 p.m., Los Angeles Police Department Officer Edgar Hernandez, who was assigned to the Rampart gang detail, was on patrol in the area of 3d Street and Alexandria Avenue in Los Angeles with his partner, Officer Godoy. The area was a "stronghold" of the 18th Street gang and was covered by the 18th Street gang injunction. Hernandez was at the location due to "numerous complaints from citizens ... about gang members, especially 18th Street, shooting at passing vehicles, selling narcotics and just hiding out." Hernandez had personally made numerous arrests in the area for robbery, vandalism, weapons possession, and narcotics activity.

As Hernandez and Godoy were citing several 18th Street gang members for tobacco possession, Detective George Magallon, who was also assigned to the Rampart division, came by to speak with them regarding an apparent gang-related shooting that had occurred the previous day. Magallon had worked as a detective with the Rampart gang investigative team for three months, and had worked patrol in the area between 1999 and 2003. As Officer Hernandez and Detective Magallon spoke, they observed 14-year-old H.M. sprint across 3d Street through heavy traffic towards them, causing motorists to slow and honk. H.M. was sweating profusely and kept "looking back." His facial expression suggested he was "trying to get away from something." He appeared confused and nervous, as if "something was happening."

Officer Hernandez had encountered H.M. on several prior occasions and knew his home, which was approximately one-half block away, was an 18th Street gang "stronghold." H.M. had admitted to Hernandez that he was an 18th Street gang member, and had a tattoo indicating gang membership on his wrist. Hernandez had previously served H.M. with the 18th Street gang injunction at his home and, within two weeks thereafter, had arrested him for unlawfully associating with gang members.

Detective Magallon had not had prior contacts with H.M. and did not recognize him. However, as H.M. was running, either Hernandez or Godoy looked in H.M.'s direction and mentioned H.M.'s name in a conversational tone. Because the other officer recognized H.M., Magallon concluded he had had contacts with H.M. in the past.

*141 Detective Magallon immediately detained H.M. for crossing the street illegally, but was "more concerned" about why H.M. was running. Magallon "was unsure if he had robbed someone, if he had been shot at or if he had shot at someone." Based on H.M.'s demeanor and behavior, and the fact they were in gang territory, Magallon "believed [H.M.] was running away from something, whether he had just ... victimized someone or he had been a victim." Because the area was "documented 18th Street gang territory," Magallon did not know "if maybe rival gang members were in the area and maybe there was a victim a few blocks away. I just wanted to investigate if any criminal activity had taken place." Magallon's concerns were based on "[j]ust knowing the area, prior experience, having worked that area; [H.M.'s] demeanor, his actions." Magallon decided to perform a patsearch because he believed he needed to investigate whether a crime had occurred. He explained, "If some type of crime had taken place, I thought that a weapon had been used," either by or against H.M.

Magallon grabbed H.M.'s hand or wrist and ordered him to step towards a wall. When Magallon patsearched H.M., he discerned a hard object in H.M.'s front trouser pocket and asked what it was. H.M. replied, "`It's a .25, sir.'" Magallon then retrieved a small semiautomatic handgun, which was loaded with six live rounds.

H.M. was arrested. After being advised of and waiving his Miranda[1] rights, during an interview at the police station H.M. told Officer Hernandez that he had found the gun five days earlier and kept it for protection from his enemies.

The juvenile court denied the suppression motion. It concluded there was no dispute the initial stop for the traffic violation was legal. The facts that H.M. was running through traffic in an area known for 18th Street gang activity, was looking around, appeared nervous, and was known to one of the officers, coupled with Magallon's experience in the area and the fact he was present to investigate a shooting that had occurred one block away the day before, justified the patsearch.

As noted, the juvenile court sustained the petition, declared the offense a felony, and placed H.M. in the camp community placement program for a period of confinement not exceeding three years two months.

DISCUSSION

H.M. contends the juvenile court erred by denying his suppression motion, and therefore the court's order sustaining the July 2, 2007 petition must be reversed. We disagree.

*142 (1) The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement personnel. (U.S. Const., 4th Amend.; Terry v. Ohio (1968) 392 U.S. 1, 8-9 [20 L.Ed.2d 889, 88 S.Ct. 1868]; People v. Maury (2003) 30 Cal.4th 342, 384 [133 Cal.Rptr.2d 561, 68 P.3d 1]; People v. Camacho (2000) 23 Cal.4th 824, 829-830 [98 Cal.Rptr.2d 232, 3 P.3d 878].) On review of the trial court's denial of a suppression motion, we defer to the trial court's express or implied factual findings if supported by substantial evidence, but exercise our independent judgment to determine whether, on the facts found, the search or seizure was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. (People v. Maury, supra, at p. 384; People v. Camacho, supra, at p. 830; People v. Jenkins (2000) 22 Cal.4th 900, 969 [95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044]; People v. Medina (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 171, 175 [1 Cal.Rptr.3d 546].) Challenges to the admissibility of a search or seizure must be evaluated solely under the Fourth Amendment. (People v. Carter

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Bluebook (online)
167 Cal. App. 4th 136, 83 Cal. Rptr. 3d 850, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-hm-calctapp-2008.