People v. Ormonde

49 Cal. Rptr. 3d 26, 143 Cal. App. 4th 282
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 5, 2006
DocketH028471
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 49 Cal. Rptr. 3d 26 (People v. Ormonde) 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. Ormonde, 49 Cal. Rptr. 3d 26, 143 Cal. App. 4th 282 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Opinion

McADAMS, J.

Following the denial of his motion to suppress evidence pursuant to Penal Code section 1538.5, defendant Richard A. Ormonde pleaded no contest to possession of cocaine for sale (count 1), possession of methamphetamine for sale (count 2), possession of methylenedioxy amphetamine for sale (count 3), possession of marijuana for sale (count 4), and possession of an assault weapon (count 5). (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 11351, 11378, 11359; Pen. Code, § 12280, subd. (b).) He also admitted in connection with the first three counts that he was personally armed with a firearm, and in connection with count 4, that he was armed with an assault weapon. (Pen. Code, § 12022, subds. (a)(2) & (c).) Finally, he admitted that he was ineligible for probation on counts 1 and 2, and that he had suffered two prior felony convictions.

Defendant’s postplea motion for reconsideration of the ruling on the suppression motion was denied, as was his petition for referral to the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC). Defendant was sentenced to state prison for three years eight months.

On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, and abused its discretion in rejecting his bid for a CRC referral. We agree that the suppression motion should have been granted, and we reverse the judgment.

*286 STATEMENT OF FACTS 1

Detective Patrick Clouse of the City of Santa Clara testified that on April 11, 2003, around 5:55 p.m. he responded to a radio call about a domestic violence incident that had occurred in the area of Homestead Road. He was originally directed to Woodhams and Homestead Roads, where the victim was located, but when he arrived there he was redirected to 2940 Homestead Road, apartment 2, where the suspect was supposed to be. Detective Clouse explained that at this point in his career as a police officer, he had responded to hundreds of domestic violence calls, and he considered them “one of the most dangerous” and “highly unpredictable” things a police officer could do. The danger stemmed from the fact that there was a lot of emotion involved, the incidents typically took place at a house where there were frequently guns and knives, and where there were “also frequently sympathetic parties other than the two combatants, such as family members, friends, parents, people that have an emotional stake in what’s occurring and are not happy about the police being involved in their personal business and who also may want to protect the victim and/or suspect.” On numerous occasions he had had to “arrest more than just the suspect because of violence that has been . . . perpetrated on the police or on . . . other people involved, after our arrival.”

When he arrived at 2940 Homestead Road, he parked on the street. Officer Carreña arrived in a separate car, and also parked on the street. As they entered the driveway area to the apartment complex, Detective Clouse saw an individual, later identified as Christopher Olson, standing near a car that was parked in front of apartment B (not 2). Olson was 10 feet from the front door of that unit; “the driver’s side door of the vehicle was practically even with the front door, so you could have gotten out of the driver’s side door of the vehicle and walked directly into the front door.” The door was wide open. Since Clouse was not sure at this point that Olson was the individual they were supposed to arrest, he contacted Olson. Olson immediately became slightly argumentative and voiced some protest over being arrested. Officer Carreña assumed responsibility for dealing with him while Clouse surveyed the door to the apartment, which he believed was in some way connected with Olson. Clouse had been informed by either Carreña or Officer Leipelt via radio that Olson had been either staying or working at the apartment, which belonged to a friend of his. Clouse believed that the domestic violence incident in which Olson was the suspect had occurred either inside or outside the residence.

*287 From his vantage point, Clouse could see through the open front door and the front window into the living room and partly into the kitchen, but a closed door blocked his view of the rest of the residence. Clouse felt “vulnerable” because he “didn’t know if somebody was going to come out of that room with a weapon or if it was going to be somebody that was somehow going to be sympathetic to Olson, who was now making somewhat of a scene in front of the residence.” He said: “I don’t think that I thought there were people in the house, I was just trying to determine if there were people in the house.” He did not ask Olson if there was anybody inside the house because Olson was being uncooperative. Regardless of what Olson might have said if Clouse had asked him, Clouse would have wanted to verify for himself whether the house was occupied. He believed that his safety and the safety of the other officers would be jeopardized if he did not enter the house.

Clouse stepped up to the door and into the residence, simultaneously announcing, “Santa Clara Police Department” in a loud voice. He did not knock because the door was open. He had stepped two to three feet into the room when the back door opened and defendant, a woman and a young girl came out. Clouse asked them to step outside to talk to him. As they walked outside, Clouse explained that he was investigating a domestic violence incident. While he was inside, Clouse did not search or see any contraband.

Once they were outside, other police officers began to arrive and Olson continued to make a “spectacle” of himself. Clouse asked the woman if she and her child would like to go back inside. They did so.

Defendant remained outside with Clouse. Clouse explained that Olson had committed some kind of domestic violence crime and the police were there to arrest him. Clouse asked defendant what his relationship to Olson was, if he knew the woman who had accused Olson, and if he had heard or seen anything involving the domestic violence. Defendant replied that he and Olson were friends, and that Olson had been at the house for the last few days remodeling the kitchen. He said he knew the woman, but had not witnessed any violence.

Before or during the conversation, Clouse received information that Olson was a methamphetamine user, and he asked defendant if he knew whether Olson used drugs of any kind. Defendant said he was not sure, but he thought Olson might be a drug user. Clouse asked defendant if there was any chance that Olson had left any property, including drugs or paraphernalia, inside the residence. Defendant replied that it was possible, but that the only area to which Olson had access was the kitchen. Clouse then asked defendant for permission to search the kitchen for items that might belong to Olson and *288 defendant gave it. Clouse next asked defendant if he would mind repeating all his information to Officer Raymaker for inclusion in the domestic violence report and he reentered the residence.

Clouse went directly to the kitchen and began searching. He found a little bit of burnt marijuana and a cut straw that looked as if it could have been used to ingest drugs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
49 Cal. Rptr. 3d 26, 143 Cal. App. 4th 282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-ormonde-calctapp-2006.