People v. Carmona

195 Cal. App. 4th 1385, 124 Cal. Rptr. 3d 819, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 659
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 27, 2011
DocketNo. G043846
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 195 Cal. App. 4th 1385 (People v. Carmona) 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
People v. Carmona, 195 Cal. App. 4th 1385, 124 Cal. Rptr. 3d 819, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 659 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

[1388]*1388Opinion

O’LEARY, Acting P. J.

Paul David Carmona, Jr., and Alice Holguin appeal from their convictions for possession and transportation of controlled substances for sale. On appeal, they contend the trial court erred by denying their motion to suppress evidence, after which they changed their pleas to guilty. We agree and reverse the convictions.

FACTS

The facts adduced at the hearing on the suppression motion are not in dispute. La Habra Police Officer Nick Wilson was driving southbound on Walnut Street, after dark, going about 25 miles per hour. Walnut Street has two lanes (one each direction) and forms a “T” intersection with Olive; there is a stop sign on Olive but not on Walnut. From about 40 yards away, Wilson saw a Chevrolet sports utility vehicle (the SUV) driving northbound on Walnut (i.e., coming towards him). Wilson’s vehicle and the SUV were the only vehicles on the road at the time. When Wilson was about 55 feet away from the SUV, the SUV made a right-hand turn onto Olive Street without first using a turn signal. Although he had originally intended to continue driving straight on Walnut, Wilson made a left-hand turn onto Olive, followed the SUV, activated his emergency lights, and conducted a traffic stop. Wilson’s police report stated the turn without a signal constituted a violation of Vehicle Code section 22107, which prohibits turning without an appropriate signal “in the event any other vehicle may be affected by the movement.” At the suppression hearing, Wilson agreed the right-hand turn could not have affected his car (he was traveling in the opposite direction and was still at least 55 feet away) or any other cars (there were none).

Wilson contacted the driver, Carmona, and within seconds asked him if he was on parole. Carmona confirmed he was on active parole. Wilson observed the passenger, Holguin, to be sweating. She was very fidgety and unable to sit still. Wilson asked if there were any narcotics in the vehicle. Carmona indicated he did not know. Wilson searched the car and found baggies containing crystalline powder later determined to be 7.1 grams of methamphetamine and cellular telephones with text messages related to narcotics transactions on them. A search of Holguin’s person revealed a plastic device used for snorting methamphetamine on which there was a crystal-like substance.

An information charged Carmona and Holguin with one count of transportation of a controlled substance (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379, subd. (a)) [1389]*1389(count 1). The information also charged Holguin with one count of possession of a controlled substance for sale (Health & Saf. Code, § 11378) (count 2), and alleged Carmona suffered one serious and violent felony strike conviction (Pen. Code, §§ 667, subds. (d) & (e)(1), 1170.12, subd. (b)), and one prison prior (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subds. (b) & (c)(1)).

Carmona filed a motion to suppress in which Holguin joined (Pen. Code, § 1538.5), seeking to suppress the evidence seized as a result of the car stop and subsequent search. As relevant here, Carmona and Holguin claimed they were unlawfully detained because Wilson had no reasonable suspicion of a violation of the Vehicle Code. They asserted there was no violation of Vehicle Code section 221071 because there was no other vehicle that might have been affected by the turn. Wilson was driving the opposite direction and there were no other cars on the road. The prosecutor argued that even if the turn did not violate section 22107, the facts supported a violation of section 22108, which provides, “Any signal of intention to turn right or left shall be given continuously during the last 100 feet traveled by the vehicle before turning.”

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the trial court initially concurred with defendants’ assertion sections 22107 and 22108 must be read in conjunction with each other. Section 22107 describes the prohibited conduct of turning without a signal if another vehicle might be affected and section 22108 describes the duration of the signal (100 feet continuously when making a right or left turn). But following argument, the trial court agreed with the prosecution that sections 22107 and 22108 are separate and distinct statutes, each one describing a separate crime. The trial court found section 22108 was the applicable statute, i.e., Carmona’s right-hand turn made without first signaling for 100 feet was a violation of section 22108. Accordingly, it denied the motion to suppress.

After the trial court denied the suppression motion, Carmona and Holguin pled guilty to the charges. The court struck Carmona’s prior conviction enhancements and sentenced him to two years in state prison. The court sentenced Holguin to three years of formal probation with various terms and conditions, including that she serve 90 days in the Orange County Jail.

DISCUSSION

Carmona and Holguin contend Wilson unlawfully stopped and detained them. They argue Carmona’s right-hand turn was not one requiring a signal because there was no other vehicle that might have been affected by the turn. We agree.

[1390]*1390In reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress, we defer to the trial court’s factual findings, express or implied, when supported by substantial evidence, but we exercise our independent judgment in determining whether, on the facts so found, the search was lawful. (People v. Redd (2010) 48 Cal.4th 691, 719 [108 Cal.Rptr.3d 192, 229 P.3d 101].) “The Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures dictates that traffic stops must be supported by articulable facts giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that the driver or a passenger has violated the Vehicle Code or some other law.” (People v. Durazo (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 728, 731 [21 Cal.Rptr.3d 516].) Reasonable suspicion requires only that “the detaining 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.” (People v. Souza (1994) 9 Cal.4th 224, 231 [36 Cal.Rptr.2d 569, 885 P.2d 982].)

Wilson’s police report indicated he stopped Carmona’s vehicle for violating section 22107, but there is no reasonable possibility that section was violated. Section 22107 provides: “No person shall turn a vehicle from a direct course or move right or left upon a roadway until such movement can be made with reasonable safety and then only after the giving of an appropriate signal in the manner provided in this chapter in the event any other vehicle may be affected by the movement.” (Italics added.)

As this court noted in People v. Logsdon (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 741, 744 [79 Cal.Rptr.3d 379] {Logsdon), section 22107 requires a signal only if “another motorist could be affected.” (See also In re Jaime P. (2006) 40 Cal.4th 128, 131 [51 Cal.Rptr.3d 430, 146 P.3d 965] [dicta acknowledging People’s concession turning comers and pulling to curb without signaling “standing alone would not have justified a vehicle stop, as no other vehicles were affected”]; People v. Cartwright (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 1362, 1366, fn.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
195 Cal. App. 4th 1385, 124 Cal. Rptr. 3d 819, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 659, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-carmona-calctapp-2011.