People v. Polk

248 Cal. Rptr. 3d 335, 36 Cal. App. 5th 340
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJune 14, 2019
DocketE069641
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 248 Cal. Rptr. 3d 335 (People v. Polk) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Polk, 248 Cal. Rptr. 3d 335, 36 Cal. App. 5th 340 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinions

MILLER J.

*338*342Defendant and appellant Tanner Joseph Polk, an inmate at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, was found in his area with eight small pieces of cut-up and numbered paper, along with a greeting card. A correctional officer touched the paper and some of it had a grainy feel. The correctional officer had learned from other prison officers during routine *343training that a current trend in the prisons was the possession of methamphetamine-infused paper. He did a preliminary test at the prison and discovered the presence of methamphetamine on one piece of paper and on a small corner of the greeting card. The paper was tested at a laboratory, and some of the papers were found to contain methamphetamine; the remainder of the greeting card tested negative.

Defendant was found guilty of possession of methamphetamine while in prison. ( Pen. Code, § 4573.6.)1 Defendant admitted he had suffered one prior serious or violent felony conviction (§§ 667, subds. (c), (e)(1), 1170.12, subd. (c)(1)). Defendant was sentenced to six years in state prison.

Defendant makes the following claims on appeal: (1) insufficient evidence was presented to support that he possessed a usable amount of methamphetamine and he had knowledge that it was methamphetamine, to support his conviction of violating section 4573.6 ; (2) the correctional officer should not have been allowed to testify as to whether the papers contained a usable amount of narcotics as his testimony was speculative and lacked foundation; (3) the trial court deprived defendant of a right to present a defense by refusing to allow him to properly address the quantity of methamphetamine found on the papers; (4) cumulative errors warrant dismissal; and (5) the trial court erred by denying his Romero2 motion to dismiss his prior strike conviction. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. OFFICER CARRION'S BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Correctional Officer Anthony Carrion was assigned to the investigative services unit at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco (CRC). Defendant was an inmate at CRC. Officer Carrion had been with the investigative services unit for eight months as of April 26, 2016. Prior to being assigned to the investigative services unit, he was a search and escort officer for six years, a yard officer for three years, and a dorm officer for one year. He had been with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for more than 11 years. Prior to working at CRC, he attended a 16-week training academy, where he was taught how to search cells and inmates. Each year he attended a week-long refresher course. The training included the recognition of narcotics. Specifically, for methamphetamine, he was trained to look for a crystal material similar to table salt.

*344Officer Carrion was trained on different methods of usage of methamphetamine. It commonly was snorted, smoked or taken *339intravenously. He explained he had been advised that a current trend was methamphetamine-infused paper. The methamphetamine was dissolved in water and paper was soaked in the water. The paper would then be dried and cut into pieces. A user would put the paper under the tongue and it would dissolve into the bloodstream.

Officer Carrion explained that when he was a dorm officer, he had been involved in searching each inmate's cell; these searches occurred five times each day. Inmates usually had a lookout who alerted the other inmates by yelling, "walking." Once this occurred, he paid particular attention to how inmates reacted when he was approaching the cells. If there was an alert, he was aware that something was going on in the dorm. If Carrion suspected an inmate had contraband, he would search the inmate from head to toe. The cell was thoroughly searched for contraband, which could include narcotics, tattoo materials and any other unauthorized materials.

While he was a yard officer, Officer Carrion was involved in searching the yard before and after the inmates were in the yard. He and the other officers would search for contraband, including narcotics. Inmates were searched in the yard if they exhibited suspicious behavior. As a search and escort officer, he would assist the assigned dorm officer in conducting searches of the cells. Again, he and the dorm officer would look for inmates exhibiting suspicious behavior. At all times during these searches, he was looking for contraband. He conducted eight to 10 searches a day of inmates, cells and other facilities while a search and escort officer.

His current assignment with the investigative services unit involved conducting investigations of gangs and narcotics in the CRC. For the investigation of narcotics, they focused on inmates who had prior rule violations regarding narcotics and on any inmates who may be linked to narcotics coming into the facility. His assignment included the entire CRC. He could conduct a search in any part of the facility.

During his time at CRC, he had found methamphetamine more than 20 times. Narcotics were commonly brought into the prison during visitation; by lower-level inmates who worked outside the prison; and thrown over the fence into the facility. Officer Carrion had been taught about usable quantity of drugs in the academy. He had been taught it was not the amount that could get the person "high" but rather an amount that could be "manipulated."

B. SEARCH OF DEFENDANT AND HIS AREA

Defendant was housed in dormitory 408. On April 26, 2016, a search was conducted by Officer Carrion in dormitory 408. He entered the walkway into *345the dorm area. No one sounded an alert and there was no suspicious movement. Carrion approached defendant's area; defendant was sitting on his bunk facing away from him. Defendant was looking down toward his hand. Defendant turned and saw Carrion. He straightened up and had a look of "Oh, Shit" on his face; his eyes got wide. Defendant was ordered to his feet and told to put his hands on his head. Defendant was searched and nothing was found on his body.

Officer Carrion then searched defendant's bunk area. At this point, he observed there were several pieces of cut-up paper on defendant's bunk. There were five white, one blue and two yellow cut-up pieces of paper. In addition, a greeting card was found. Carrion had never seen pieces of paper cut up like the ones on defendant's bed, but had been hearing through investigative service units at other prisons that there was a possibility of *340methamphetamine-infused paper being sent into prisons. He personally had not seen methamphetamine-infused paper.

He picked up the cut-up pieces of paper. They did not feel like ordinary paper. The paper he picked up felt grainy, like sand. He put the pieces of paper in an evidence bag. Officer Carrion also inspected a lined piece of paper, which was found underneath a greeting card.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
248 Cal. Rptr. 3d 335, 36 Cal. App. 5th 340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-polk-calctapp5d-2019.