People v. Jaramillo CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 7, 2014
DocketE056689
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Jaramillo CA4/2 (People v. Jaramillo CA4/2) 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. Jaramillo CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 2/7/14 P. v. Jaramillo CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, E056689

v. (Super.Ct.No. FSB1105820)

CHRISTOPHER JARAMILLO, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. Ingrid Adamson

Uhler, Judge. Affirmed.

Sarita Ordonez, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney

General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Peter Quon, Jr., Julianne Karr

Reizen, and Donald W. Ostertag, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and

Respondent.

1 I

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Christopher Jaramillo was detained by police while driving with his

nine-year-old nephew as a passenger. After searching defendant and his car, the police

found heroin and drug paraphernalia.

A jury convicted defendant of possession of a controlled substance for sale.

(Health & Saf. Code, § 11351.) Defendant admitted having a 1997 conviction for first

degree residential burglary. (Pen. Code, §§ 1170.12, subds. (a) through (d), and 667,

subds. (b) through (i).)1 The court denied the defense motion to strike the prior

conviction pursuant to section 1385. The court sentenced defendant to a total determinate

sentence of six years.

On appeal, defendant argues the court erred in denying his motion to suppress and

in allowing evidence about two other people. Defendant also contends the trial court

abused its discretion in denying his Romero2 motion to strike his prior conviction. We

reject defendant’s appeal and affirm the judgment.

II

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On the morning of December 28, 2011, a police detective, Scott Roebuck, was

parked in an unmarked car at a Smart and Final store. He noticed some people huddled

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless stated otherwise.

2 People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497.

2 together in the parking lot. Roebuck knew two people from previous arrests as heroin

users. Roebuck testified that “they were waiting for a heroin connection. [¶] . . . [¶] . . .

Just the fact that they were known heroin addicts grouped up in an area known for heroin.

. . . I’ve seen this scenario played out hundreds of times throughout my career. I mean, I

-- I just know that that’s what they were waiting for.” When a patrol car drove through

the parking lot, the group reacted nervously and one person walked away. Detective

Roebuck contacted the patrol car to report he was observing some people who seemed to

be waiting for a heroin connection. If it happened, he would radio with a description of

the car and its direction of travel.

About 30 minutes later, defendant arrived, driving a silver Camry. Defendant got

out of his car and had some interactions with the people in the parking lot before

returning to his car and leaving. Detective Roebuck recognized one of the people in the

group as a “known drug seller.” Detective Roebuck radioed the patrol car about the

direction defendant was driving.

Officer Anna Stewart and her partner, Jason Stack, were contacted by Detective

Roebuck, who reported he believed an unknown Hispanic male was selling narcotics and

driving a silver Toyota Camry in the area. The Hispanic male had exited an alleyway and

was “driving erratically.” Officer Stewart saw a vehicle travelling at an unsafe speed and

exiting an alley without stopping so she made a traffic stop. Defendant’s nephew was in

the car.

Officer Stack searched defendant and found a syringe, wrapped inside dollar bills,

in defendant’s front pocket. Officer Stack searched defendant’s car and found the bottom

3 of an aluminum can with burnt residue, as well as cellophane and plastic wrapping

smelling like vinegar. Heroin smells like vinegar and is often packaged in cellophane or

plastic. Officer Stack questioned defendant’s nephew, who stated he saw defendant reach

into his pocket several times while in the Smart and Final parking lot.

Officer Stack arrested defendant and read him his Miranda3 rights. Defendant

told Officer Stack he had used heroin the night before. He used narcotics because he had

lost his job and his wife. He was looking for work and having a hard time making

money.

Later, the police searched defendant again and found three $10 bindles of heroin—

each one the size of a pencil eraser. Officer Stack admitted that it was not a large amount

of heroin and he did not find any scales, cell phones, or “pay-owe sheets” on defendant’s

person or in his car.

Detective Roebuck testified that defendant possessed the heroin for sale. He based

his opinion on his observations of the group in the parking lot, defendant’s conduct, and

that the heroin was packaged for sale.

III

MOTION TO SUPPRESS

Defendant contends the trial court committed reversible error by denying his

motion to suppress evidence. As we discuss below, the officers had a reasonable

3 Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436.

4 suspicion based on articulable facts to conduct a patdown search, followed by a more

thorough search of defendant and his car after his arrest.

The Suppression Hearing

At the suppression hearing in May 2012, Detective Roebuck testified about his 19

years of experience as a police officer, involved in narcotics investigations since 1995.

As an undercover officer, he had purchased and sold narcotics. He had investigated

thousands of hand-to-hand narcotics sales transactions and had interviewed many

individuals who sold street-level narcotics. He testified about street-level sales and

delivery.

On the morning of December 28, 2011, while on duty, the detective observed a

hand-to-hand drug sale in the Smart and Final parking lot. The detective first saw a

group congregating in the parking lot and recognized several people as heroin users. The

detective radioed a patrol vehicle and asked the officers to stand by until a drug seller

arrived and delivered drugs to the group. Defendant drove up, parked, and met with each

individual. Defendant’s physical movements were consistent with hand-to-hand drug

transactions, like hundreds of similar transactions Detective Roebuck had observed.

When defendant drove away, the detective radioed to the nearby officers the description

and the direction of travel of the vehicle and a description of defendant.

Officer Stewart testified she spotted the silver Toyota Camry and observed it turn

from an alley into the road at an unsafe speed, causing another vehicle to swerve to avoid

a collision. When the police stopped him, defendant was very nervous and sweating.

Defendant was not free to leave at that point. Defendant admitted he was on probation.

5 Officer Stack confirmed that he and Officer Stewart mutually decided to stop

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Miranda v. Arizona
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People v. Jaramillo CA4/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-jaramillo-ca42-calctapp-2014.