People v. Velez CA1/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 2, 2014
DocketA136995
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Velez CA1/3 (People v. Velez CA1/3) 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. Velez CA1/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 7/2/14 P. v. Velez CA1/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A136995 v. MONICA VELEZ, (San Mateo County Super. Ct. No. SC074436) Defendant and Appellant.

Monica Velez (appellant) appeals from a judgment entered after the trial court denied her motion to suppress evidence, accepted her no contest plea to one count of child endangerment (Pen. Code, § 273a, subd. (a)), and sentenced her to four years of probation. She contends the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress evidence. We reject the contention and affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On October 14, 2011, an information was filed charging appellant and her father, Herman Valencia Velez (Herman), with various crimes. It charged appellant with possession of methamphetamine for sale (Health & Saf. Code,1 § 11378; count 1),

1 All further statutory references are to the Health and Safety Code unless otherwise stated.

1 possession of marijuana for sale (§ 11359; count 4), and child endangerment (Pen. Code, § 273a, subd. (a); count 5).2 On January 11, 2011, appellant filed a motion to suppress evidence. The following facts were presented at the hearing on the motion:3 On the morning of October 12, 2010, Deputy Sheriff Michael Marty had a search warrant for Herman’s person, his van, and the residence at 721 Third Avenue in Redwood City. That same morning, Deputy Sheriff Jacob Trickett was on the 700 block of Third Avenue looking for Herman, when he spotted Herman driving westbound on Third Avenue, from 756 Third Avenue to 703 Third Avenue. Herman parked and exited his van at 703 Third Avenue, went onto the yard of the property, and after approximately five minutes, returned to his van and drove off. After being advised that Herman was about to leave the area in his van, Marty stopped the van. He conducted a search and found a scale, a small portion of crystal methamphetamine, and a small amount of marijuana on Herman’s person. Marty detained Herman. Marty and his search team then proceeded to conduct a search of 721 Third Avenue, and of 703 Third Avenue, which was listed as Herman’s address on a previous driver’s license. Before going to 703 Third Avenue, Marty contacted County Communications to obtain information about the residents of 703 Third Avenue. He learned that Herman Mark Anthony Velez (Mark Anthony)—Herman’s son—had listed it as his residence, and that Mark Anthony was on probation in San Mateo County with search and seizure terms. Marty followed up on this information by contacting adult probation and speaking to the on-call probation officer, Melissa Ewing. Ewing told Marty that Mark Anthony was on probation and that his residence of record on October 12, 2010 was 703 Third

2 The information charged Herman with appellant in counts 1 and 4, and charged him alone in counts 2 (transportation of methamphetamine; § 11379) and 3 (possession of a firearm by a felon; Pen. Code, § 12316, subd. (b)(1)). 3 The parties stipulated that the motion to suppress evidence, which was heard before the preliminary hearing, would be deemed as if it had been heard at the preliminary hearing. The parties waived “any procedural irregularities” and proceeded with the “stand-alone” motion to suppress evidence.

2 Avenue. Neither Ewing nor County Communications told Marty that Mark Anthony was in jail. According to Ewing, a computer printout showed four addresses for Mark Anthony beginning on June 21, 2008, and changing on September 29, 2008, July 20, 2009, and July 9, 2010. The addresses were 1631 Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, then 703 Third Avenue, then 1309 Marshall Street, then 721 Third Avenue. According to probation officer Jeff Morino, who reviewed Mark Anthony’s probation file in response to the defense’s discovery requests, there were three different addresses for Mark Anthony between 2008 and 2010. The most recent entry showed a citation Mark Anthony received on January 3, 2010, which listed his address as 703 Third Avenue. The next entry was from a rap sheet printed on July 22, 2010, which listed his address of record with the Department of Motor Vehicles as 703 Third Avenue, and also listed a mailing address of 1632 Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road in Sunnyvale. There was one more entry, which was a booking sheet from when Mark Anthony was booked into custody on February 21, 2009, which listed his address as 1305 Marshall Street, No. 305. When Marty went to 703 Third Avenue, he encountered appellant, who appeared to be pretty “upset” and indicated she did not want the officers to come inside the house. Appellant told Marty that her brother, Mark Anthony, was not there because he was in jail. Marty initially told her he did not believe her. Marty recalled asking appellant what Mark Anthony was in jail for, but it was difficult to get answers from her because she was upset. Special Agent John DeFelice, an adult probation officer who was part of the search team, testified that as he stood in the driveway, he saw appellant sticking her head out of a window and saying some “foul words.” Appellant also said that the man they were looking for was not there, and that it was not his house. Marty asked DeFelice whether Mark Anthony was in custody. DeFelice responded that he believed he was. According to Marty, when he asked DeFelice if they were allowed to search a probationer’s residence while he was in custody, DeFelice

3 replied, “Absolutely. I do it all the time.”4 DeFelice testified that he told appellant that as far as he knew, that was Mark Anthony’s address of record, that Mark Anthony was on probation with search and seizure terms, and that they had the right to search. He did not take steps to confirm whether Mark Anthony was in jail. Once Marty made sure it was “okay to be there [703 Third Avenue],” and after instructing the investigative team to limit the scope of the search to the areas that would be under Mark Anthony’s dominion and control, Marty left that residence and went to 721 Third Avenue. Inside 721 Third Avenue, Marty found some ammunition, a magazine for a firearm, and crystal methamphetamine pipes. While Marty was there, he was informed that narcotics were found at 703 Third Avenue. He therefore returned to 703 Third Avenue. There, he saw that there was only one bedroom that had any adult clothing in it. That bedroom had clothing for both men and women, and there was one adult bed and a toddler bed. There was another room in the rear that appeared to belong to a child; the search team did not search that room. In addition to appellant, there was a child inside the house and a woman who identified herself as the child’s grandmother and the mother of appellant’s boyfriend, Daniel White. Appellant told DeFelice that everything in the adult bedroom was hers. Inside the bedroom, the search team found a large amount of cash in multiple denominations inside a “larger” men’s leather jacket, and a large amount of crystal methamphetamine in a closet between two pairs of men’s jeans.5 The team found a Safeway pay stub belonging to White, as well as a pay check stub or business card dated October 2007 with the name Herman M. Velez and the 703 Third Avenue address on it. The team also searched outside the residence and found approximately two “kilos” of marijuana in a building in the rear of the residence. Probation supervisor Tim Gatto testified that there are many benefits to probation searches. It ensures the probationer is in compliance with court orders, and can also

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Velez CA1/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-velez-ca13-calctapp-2014.