P. v. Goodson CA3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 8, 2013
DocketC071877
StatusUnpublished

This text of P. v. Goodson CA3 (P. v. Goodson CA3) 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
P. v. Goodson CA3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Filed 8/8/13 P. v. Goodson CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Yolo) ----

THE PEOPLE, C071877

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. CRF094651)

v.

ANTHONY WAYNE GOODSON,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found defendant Anthony Wayne Goodson guilty of transporting methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379, subd. (a); count1), possessing methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a); count 2), carrying a dirk or dagger concealed on the person (former Pen. Code, § 12020, subd. (a)(4), now § 21310; counts 3 & 4; unless otherwise stated, all statutory references that follow are to the Penal Code), and misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a peace officer (§ 148, subd. (a)(1); count 5). We note that counts 3 and 4 involved carrying a dirk or dagger concealed on the person. (Former § 12020, subd. (a)(4).) However, the information and verdict forms

1 listed the count 3 offense as a violation of former section 12020, subdivision (a)(1), which does not apply to a dirk or dagger. Nevertheless, the jury was properly given a single instruction that applied to both counts and correctly set forth the elements of the dirk or dagger offense. To eliminate confusion, we shall modify the judgment on counts 3 and 4 to reflect convictions of section 21310, the successor to former § 12020, subdivision (a)(4). The jury found that defendant committed count 4 while released from custody. (§ 12022.1, subd. (b).) The trial court found that he had a prior serious felony conviction (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i)) and had served two prior prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). Defendant’s request to strike the second-strike allegation was granted. (People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497.) He was sentenced to prison for seven years eight months and was awarded 844 days’ custody credit and 422 days’ conduct credit. On appeal, defendant contends (1) in both contacts with police, the officers had no valid basis to detain him or to conduct a patdown search of his person, (2) principles of equal protection entitle him to additional presentence conduct credit, and (3) the evidence of his prior serious felony conviction was insufficient. We affirm the judgment.

DISCUSSION I Suppression Motions Defendant contends the evidence obtained in both contacts with police should have been suppressed because neither officer had a valid basis to detain him or to conduct a patsearch of his clothing. We consider the incidents in turn.

A. General Principles of Detention and Patsearches

“‘The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. [Citations.] “A detention is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment when the detaining

2 officer can point to specific articulable facts that, considered in light of the totality of the circumstances, provide some objective manifestation that the person detained may be involved in criminal activity.” [Citation.] Ordinary traffic stops are treated as investigatory detentions for which the officer must be able to articulate specific facts justifying the suspicion that a crime is being committed. [Citations.] [¶] . . . [¶] Law enforcement officers may “draw on their own experience and specialized training to make inferences from and deductions about the cumulative information available to them that ‘might well elude an untrained person.’ [Citations.]” [Citation.]’ [Citation.]” (People v. Letner and Tobin (2010) 50 Cal.4th 99, 145-146 (Letner).) “Even in a general sense, the reasonable suspicion standard of Terry v. Ohio (1968) 392 U.S. 1 [20 L.Ed.2d 889] is not a particularly demanding one, but is, instead, ‘considerably less than proof of wrongdoing by a preponderance of the evidence.’ [Citation.]” (Letner, supra, 50 Cal.4th at p. 146.) Moreover, “the constitutional reasonableness of traffic stops [does not depend] on the actual motivations of the individual officers involved.” (Whren v. United States (1996) 517 U.S. 806, 813 [135 L.Ed.2d 89, 98].) A police officer may conduct a limited, protective patsearch for weapons when he has “reason to believe that he is dealing with an armed and dangerous individual, regardless of whether he has probable cause to arrest the individual for a crime. The officer need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed; the issue is whether a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger. [Citations.]” (Terry v. Ohio, supra, 392 U.S. at p. 27 [20 L.Ed.2d p. 909].) “The purpose of this limited search is not to discover evidence of crime, but to allow the officer to pursue his investigation without fear of violence . . . .” (Adams v. Williams (1972) 407 U.S. 143, 146 [32 L.Ed.2d 612, 617].) A patsearch is a minimal intrusion upon an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. (People v. Castaneda (1995) 35 Cal.App.4th 1222, 1230.) We are mindful that “[t]he

3 judiciary should not lightly second-guess a police officer’s decision to perform a patdown search for officer safety. The lives and safety of police officers weigh heavily in the balance of competing Fourth Amendment considerations.” (People v. Dickey (1994) 21 Cal.App.4th 952, 957.)

B. October 2, 2009 Incident

1. Facts from Suppression Hearing

Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence that was heard in conjunction with the preliminary examination. The evidence relevant to the motion was as follows. On October 2, 2009, about 2:30 a.m., Davis Police Officer Michael Moore was on patrol. He observed a black male subject, later identified as defendant, on a bicycle that had no front lamp or rear reflector. Defendant approached a group of three women who were talking together on the street. He appeared to be conversing with them and circled around them for approximately 30 seconds. He was wearing a tan leather jacket and blue jeans. Both the defendant and the females moved out of Officer Moore’s view. Shortly thereafter, Officer Moore was flagged down by the females he had seen earlier. They reported that a black male adult on a bicycle had harassed them. They specified that the male had persistently asked them questions about where they were going and whether he could “hook up” with them that evening. When the females told the male that they were not interested and that he should ride away and not talk to them anymore, the male became verbally aggressive with them. He said something like “I’m a gangster, you don’t know who you’re messing with.” The women said they did not want to go home because they did not want the defendant to see where they lived. Officer Moore advised dispatch that he would be on the lookout for a subject on a bicycle regarding a harassment complaint. He also contacted fellow Davis Police Officer Justin Raymond and related his observations to him.

4 Officer Raymond confirmed that he had heard Officer Moore’s radio report, which included the subject’s description as well as his comments that he was a “gangster” and that “you don’t know who you’re messing with.” Less than a minute later, Officer Raymond saw defendant riding his bicycle. Officer Raymond noted that the bicycle did not have a red rear reflector, a violation of the Vehicle Code.

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Related

Terry v. Ohio
392 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Adams v. Williams
407 U.S. 143 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Whren v. United States
517 U.S. 806 (Supreme Court, 1996)
Virginia v. Moore
553 U.S. 164 (Supreme Court, 2008)
People v. Lara
281 P.3d 72 (California Supreme Court, 2012)
People v. Brown
278 P.3d 1182 (California Supreme Court, 2012)
People v. Superior Court (Romero)
917 P.2d 628 (California Supreme Court, 1996)
People v. Guerrero
748 P.2d 1150 (California Supreme Court, 1988)
In Re Strick
148 Cal. App. 3d 906 (California Court of Appeal, 1983)
People v. Huerta
218 Cal. App. 3d 744 (California Court of Appeal, 1990)
People v. Osborne
175 Cal. App. 4th 1052 (California Court of Appeal, 2009)
People v. Collier
166 Cal. App. 4th 1374 (California Court of Appeal, 2008)
People v. Castaneda
35 Cal. App. 4th 1222 (California Court of Appeal, 1995)
People v. Dickey
21 Cal. App. 4th 952 (California Court of Appeal, 1994)
People v. Watts
32 Cal. Rptr. 3d 260 (California Court of Appeal, 2005)
People v. Letner and Tobin
235 P.3d 62 (California Supreme Court, 2010)
People v. Lopez
119 Cal. App. 4th 132 (California Court of Appeal, 2004)
People v. H.M.
167 Cal. App. 4th 136 (California Court of Appeal, 2008)
People v. H.H.
174 Cal. App. 4th 653 (California Court of Appeal, 2009)
People v. Rios
193 Cal. App. 4th 584 (California Court of Appeal, 2011)

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