People v. Sanchez CA1/1

California Court of Appeal·Decided June 9, 2015·No. A140732·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 6/9/15 P. v. Sanchez CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A140732 v. EFRAIN EDZAIL SANCHEZ, (Napa County Super. Ct. No. CR166236) Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Efrain Sanchez appeals from the judgment entered following his plea of no contest to possession of a controlled substance (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)).1 Defendant contends the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress and imposing a restitution fine that violates ex post facto principles. We affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND We summarize only the facts relevant to the issues on appeal. The Napa County District Attorney (DA) filed a criminal complaint in June 2013 charging defendant with felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and alleging a prior strike. Defendant filed a motion to suppress (Pen. Code, § 1538.5) prior to the preliminary hearing. At the hearing, Napa County Deputy Sheriff Erik Olson testified he has been a peace officer for over seven years. Just before midnight on May 8, 2013, Olson was on patrol in the City of American Canyon. Olson observed a vehicle driven by a person he 1 All further statutory references are to the Health and Safety Code unless otherwise indicated.

1 subsequently identified as defendant coming toward him “very quickly, rapidly, and his music was extremely loud as he passed.” Olson testified defendant’s vehicle “continued to pass me, at which point I heard tires squealing, screeching, [in an] apparent loss of traction as he turned southbound onto Erin Drive from Corcoran.” Based on the “extremely fast” rate at which defendant’s vehicle approached and passed his vehicle, Olson visually estimated defendant was going 35 to 45 miles per hour (mph) in a 25-mph speed zone. Also, Olson believed the volume of the music blaring from defendant’s vehicle violated Vehicle Code section 27007.2 Olson immediately turned around and drove into Erin Drive in an attempt to locate the vehicle. He noticed it parked in a driveway and saw defendant getting out. Olson parked opposite the driveway and got out of the patrol vehicle. He identified himself as a police officer, told defendant to stop, explained the reason for the stop and asked him to approach. At that point, the engine in defendant’s car was still running and extremely loud music continued to blare from the vehicle. Defendant walked over to Olson as requested. Olson asked if he had any weapons on his person and defendant stated he had a knife. Olson informed defendant he was going to pat him down for weapons and asked him to place his hands behind his back. Defendant refused, stating he did not consent to a search of his person. Olson grabbed defendant’s hands, placed them behind defendant’s back, and conducted a pat down search. Olson found a pocket knife inside a nylon holster attached to defendant’s waist. After the patdown search, Olson went over to defendant’s car and turned off the music. Defendant was agitated and did not want Olson to enter his vehicle. After turning off the music, Olson called for additional units to respond, asked dispatch to run a search on defendant and continued to question him. Olson inquired why defendant had pulled into the driveway and defendant stated he was there to see a friend. Olson smelled a faint

2 Vehicle Code section 27007 provides in relevant part: “No driver of a vehicle shall operate, or permit the operation of, any sound amplification system which can be heard outside the vehicle from 50 or more feet when the vehicle is being operated upon a highway . . . .”

2 odor of alcohol on defendant and asked if he had been drinking. Initially, defendant denied he had been drinking, but then said he had had “one drink at Blue Rock,” a local golf club. Within a few minutes, dispatch advised defendant had a valid driver’s license, no outstanding warrants and was not on probation. However, because defendant admitted he had been drinking, Olson decided to perform the horizontal gaze nystagmus test on defendant for road safety purposes. Although Olson did not observe any indication of nystagmus, he did notice that when he shined his flashlight at defendant’s eyes just outside of defendant’s peripheral vision, defendant’s “pupils were very slow to react to the light.” This suggested to Olson that defendant was potentially under the influence of a controlled substance. Also, Olson had instructed defendant to keep his hands by his side during the nystagmus test and noticed defendant’s hands were “fidgety” as he performed the test. Around this time, Officers Hernandez, Edelman and McClurg arrived at the scene. When Officer Edelman started to peer into defendant’s vehicle, defendant became very agitated and told Edelman he was not allowed to search the vehicle. Olson asked if defendant had anything illegal in the car and whether he would consent to a search of it. Defendant replied in the negative to both questions. Defendant also denied he had used any controlled substance and declined the officers’ request to submit to a blood draw or urine sample. Olson then continued his evaluation of whether defendant was under the influence. He first asked defendant “a series of medical pre-examination questions” before measuring defendant’s pulse rate. Olson determined defendant had a elevated heart rate of 138 beats per minute against a normal range of 60 to 90 beats per minute. Olson also performed a pupillary comparison test and noticed that when he shined a pen light in defendant’s eyes, his pupils took two seconds to fully dilate, which is twice as long as normal. In addition, Olson asked defendant to perform the Romberg test, in which the subject is asked to stand with feet together, hands at the side, and head tilted back, and then estimate when 30 seconds has elapsed. Defendant estimated 24 seconds and during the test his eyelids fluttered slightly and his hands were fidgety. Olson took defendant’s

3 pulse again about five minutes after the first test, and measured defendant’s pulse at 136 beats per minute. He also administered a preliminary alcohol screening test, which measured .008 percent. Based on Olson’s observations during tests described above, including defendant’s “high pulse, agitated behavior, the fidgety hands, the involuntary eyelid tremor, his constricted eyes, which were slow to react, [and] his increased internal clock on the Romberg test,” Olson placed defendant under arrest for being under the influence of a controlled substance. Olson handcuffed defendant and placed him in the back of his patrol car. Officer Hernandez then conducted a search of defendant’s vehicle incident to the arrest. Hernandez’ police dog alerted to the front center console, and in the glove box Hernandez located a glass smoking pipe containing a partially burned material. Hernandez also found a digital scale in the back seat with a “white powdery like residue in it.” Subsequent testing of the contents of the pipe showed it contained 0.16 grams of methamphetamine. At the conclusion of Officer Olson’s testimony, the court invited argument from defense counsel on the motion to suppress. Defense counsel argued Olson’s initial detention of defendant lacked reasonable suspicion. She further argued that even if the initial detention was lawful, the officer lacked probable cause to arrest defendant. The court denied the motion to suppress.

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