People v. Carbonie

48 Cal. App. 3d 679, 121 Cal. Rptr. 831
California Court of Appeal·Decided May 30, 1975·No. 25868·Published·Cited by 27 cases

Opinion

48 Cal.App.3d 679 (1975)
121 Cal. Rptr. 831

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
CAROLYN JOY CARBONIE, Defendant and Appellant.

Docket No. 25868.

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

May 30, 1975.

*682 COUNSEL

Henry P. Crabtree, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General, Jack R. Winkler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Daniel J. Kremer, Assistant Attorney General, Jay M. Bloom and M. Howard Wayne, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

COBEY, Acting P.J.

Carolyn Joy Carbonie appeals from a judgment of conviction of three violations of Health and Safety Code section 11380,[1] entered upon jury verdicts to that effect. The appeal lies. (Pen. Code, § 1237, subd. 1.)

Appellant contends that: (1) there is insubstantial evidence to sustain her conviction; (2) the trial court erred in admitting evidence of a tape-recorded *683 telephone conversation; and (3) the five-year minimum prison term provided for her offense constitutes cruel or unusual punishment.

FACTS[2]

On January 7, 1974, Deputy Sheriff Nancy Brown (an undercover officer) and a confidential informant met with appellant's son, Chris, then aged 16, at appellant's apartment in Pico Rivera. Brown asked Chris to sell her two "nickel bags of whites" ($5 bags of amphetamines). Chris agreed to do so, asked Deputy Brown to wait, left, then rejoined her a few minutes later. Shortly thereafter, appellant came to the bedroom door and handed the amphetamines to Chris, who in turn gave them to Deputy Brown.

On January 9, Deputy Brown telephoned Chris and asked him whether he had any more amphetamines for sale. During their conversation, which Brown recorded, Brown heard appellant ask Chris who the caller was and what the caller wanted; she then heard Chris identify her and tell appellant that she wanted more "beans" (amphetamines). Afterward, Brown went to appellant's apartment and bought two $5 bags of amphetamines from Chris.

On February 14, Deputy Brown returned to appellant's apartment a third time. As Brown approached the apartment, appellant spotted her and told her that she and Chris were out of "whites." Nevertheless, appellant invited Brown into the apartment to see Chris. There, Chris told Brown that he only had "pinks" available, and showed her a heart-shaped dexadrine pill.[3] At this point, Brown signaled other officers to move in for the arrest.

DISCUSSION

Insubstantial Evidence

(1) Appellant first contends that there is insubstantial evidence to sustain her conviction under counts I and III.

There is no merit in this contention. With respect to count I, it is true that the informant, David Armentia, was the only person who testified *684 that he actually saw appellant hand the amphetamines to Chris Carbonie on January 7th.[4] It is also true that Armentia had a police record and a possible motive for perjuring himself. Nevertheless, there is nothing inherently improbable about Armentia's testimony, and that is what we would have to hold in order to reverse the judgment. (See People v. Lyons, 47 Cal.2d 311, 319-320 [303 P.2d 329].)

With respect to count III, it is true that Chris Carbonie was the only one who handled the dexadrine pill. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence from which the trier of fact could have reasonably inferred that Chris was acting as his mother's agent in all three transactions, including the one involved in this particular count.

The Tape Recording

(2) Appellant next contends that the trial court erred when it allowed the jury to hear a tape recording of the telephone conversation between Deputy Brown and her son, Chris. Specifically, she contends that this recording was obtained in violation of her son's right to privacy (see Pen. Code, § 630) under our anti-wiretapping (Pen. Code, § 631) and anti-eavesdropping (Pen. Code, § 632) statutes, and was admitted by the trial court in violation of her own right to have such evidence excluded in any judicial proceeding brought against her. (See Pen. Code, §§ 631, subd. (c), 632, subd. (d).)

Section 633 of the Penal Code exempts certain law enforcement activities from the operation of the just-mentioned statutes. This exemption is written in the form of a grandfather clause. It reads, in pertinent part, as follows: "Nothing in Section 631 or 632 shall be construed as prohibiting ... any ... deputy sheriff ... from overhearing or recording any communication which [he or she] could lawfully overhear or record prior to the effective date of this chapter. [¶] Nothing in Section 631 or 632 shall be construed as rendering inadmissible any evidence obtained by the above-named persons by means of overhearing or recording any communication which they could lawfully overhear or record prior to the effective date of this chapter."

Appellant contends that the recording of the January 9th telephone conversation would have been unlawful before the effective date of the chapter (Nov. 8, 1967; see Stats. 1967, p. A-3) and, therefore, it is *685 unlawful today. Appellant bases this contention on the following passage from People v. Jones: "Section 631 makes unlawful any `unauthorized' wiretap. Old section 640, from which section 631 was derived, also proscribed unauthorized wiretaps. The authorization required for a legal wiretap under section 640 was the consent of the subscriber to the telephone, and the consent of the telephone company. [Citation.]" (Italics added.) (30 Cal. App.3d 852, 854 [106 Cal. Rptr. 749], app. dism. 414 U.S. 804 [38 L.Ed.2d 40, 94 S.Ct. 163].) Appellant's argument is twofold. First, she argues that Deputy Brown probably was not the subscriber[5] and could not give an effective consent to the tap. Second, she argues that there is absolutely no evidence that the telephone company consented to the tap.

Neither half of this argument has merit. As to the first half, there is absolutely nothing in the record indicating that Deputy Brown acted beyond the scope of her authority and without the consent of her superiors when she recorded the telephone conversation. Under such circumstances, we must assume that the subscriber (the sheriff or the county) impliedly consented to the tap. (See Evid. Code, § 664.)

As to the second half of the argument, appellant's interpretation of pre-1967 case law is incorrect. Law enforcement officers were not required to obtain the telephone company's consent when one of the parties to a conversation permitted the officers to record it. (See People v. Murphy, 8 Cal.3d 349, 358-361 [105 Cal. Rptr. 138, 503 P.2d 594], cert. den., 414 U.S. 833 [38 L.Ed.2d 68, 94 S.Ct. 173]; People v. Malotte, 46 Cal.2d 59, 64 [292 P.2d 517], app. dism. 352 U.S. 805 [1 L.Ed.2d 38, 77 S.Ct. 50]; People v. Cruz, 6 Cal. App.3d 384, 391 [85 Cal. Rptr. 918]; People v. Caravella, 5 Cal. App.3d 931, 933-934 [85 Cal. Rptr. 576]; People v. Jones, 254 Cal. App.2d 200, 220 [62 Cal. Rptr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

People v. Carbonie, 48 Cal. App. 3d 679, 121 Cal. Rptr. 831 (Cal. Ct. App. 1975).

48 Cal. App. 3d 679 (People v. Carbonie) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

People v. Lopez
California Court of Appeal, 2018
People v. Lopez
237 Cal. Rptr. 3d 130 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2018)
People v. Edwards CA3
California Court of Appeal, 2015
People v. Windham
51 Cal. Rptr. 3d 884 (California Court of Appeal, 2006)
People v. Carrasco
40 Cal. Rptr. 3d 768 (California Court of Appeal, 2006)
Opinion No. (1999)
California Attorney General Reports, 1999
Untitled California Attorney General Opinion
California Attorney General Reports, 1996
People v. Bright
909 P.2d 1354 (California Supreme Court, 1996)
People v. Crockett
222 Cal. App. 3d 258 (California Court of Appeal, 1990)
State v. Jonas
792 P.2d 705 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1990)
Fisk v. Department of Motor Vehicles
127 Cal. App. 3d 72 (California Court of Appeal, 1981)
Warden v. Kahn
99 Cal. App. 3d 805 (California Court of Appeal, 1979)
Smith v. Municipal Court
78 Cal. App. 3d 592 (California Court of Appeal, 1978)
Bosco v. Justice Court
77 Cal. App. 3d 179 (California Court of Appeal, 1978)
United States v. Clara Bell Hall
543 F.2d 1229 (Ninth Circuit, 1977)
In Re Grant
553 P.2d 590 (California Supreme Court, 1976)
In re Flores
58 Cal. App. 3d 222 (California Court of Appeal, 1976)
People v. Vargas
53 Cal. App. 3d 516 (California Court of Appeal, 1975)