People v. Weire

198 Cal. App. 2d 138, 17 Cal. Rptr. 659, 1961 Cal. App. LEXIS 2518
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 18, 1961
DocketCrim. 4036
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 198 Cal. App. 2d 138 (People v. Weire) 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. Weire, 198 Cal. App. 2d 138, 17 Cal. Rptr. 659, 1961 Cal. App. LEXIS 2518 (Cal. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinion

SHOEMAKER, J.

Defendant Weire appeals from a conviction of possessing marijuana in violation of section 11530 of the Health and Safety Code.

The record shows that the defendant was picked up in his car in the early morning hours, in the city of Santa Rosa, for *141 questioning in connection with a young parolee of the California Youth Authority. Defendant told several conflicting stories and was arrested by the police and charged with vagrancy. At 7 a. m. of the same morning, a report of burglary was received by the police that a wristwatch and three $2.00 bills had been taken from the Davis residence in Santa Bosa. The police questioned the parolee about the burglary and he told them that he had committed the crime while the defendant and a companion waited in the defendant’s automobile outside the home, and that he had given the wristwatch to the defendant and divided the money with him and the other person.

The defendant, when questioned, stated that he had last seen the watch lying on the front seat of his car. He then offered to go and search the car and subsequently did so, in the company of Police Chief Flohr and Lieutenant Clark. After looking through the car for a few minutes, the defendant threw up his hands and stated that he could not find the watch but for the officers to go ahead and search the car themselves. As a result of this search, the officers found six marijuana cigarettes in a thermos bottle inside the defendant’s trunk. The defendant was then brought out to the car and asked if everything in it belonged to him. He replied that everything in the car was his. Upon being shown the marijuana, he stated that it must have been planted.

Appellant now contends that the marijuana cigarettes should not have been introduced into evidence since they were obtained by an unlawful search and seizure. Appellant argues that the search was completely unrelated to his arrest for vagrancy and that there was no evidence whatever which could have led the police officers to suspect that appellant’s vehicle contained contraband. Appellant further contends that the admissibility of the evidence cannot be predicated upon consent because the prosecution failed to carry their burden of proof and established only that appellant had given the officers a limited permission to search for the watch alone.

The evidence is clear that appellant freely consented to a search of his car. Lieutenant Clark testified that when appellant was unable to find the watch himself, he told the officers to ‘1 go ahead and search.' ’ Officer Gesek testified that he saw the defendant throw up his hands and tell the chief to search the car himself. Police Chief Flohr also testified that appellant had told him to “search it yourself.” If a defendant freely consents to a search or voluntarily produces *142 evidence against himself, his constitutional rights are not violated and any search or taking of evidence pursuant to his consent is not unreasonable. (People v. Michael (1955) 45 Cal.2d 751, 753 [290 P.2d 852].) It is a well settled rule that where a search is justified, the police officers need not blind themselves to contraband or ignore evidence unrelated to the crime of which the defendant is suspected. (People v. Carella (1961) 191 Cal.App.2d 115, 133-134 [12 Cal.Rptr. 446] ; People v. Myles (1961) 189 Cal.App.2d 42, 46 [10 Cal.Rptr. 733].)

Although the fact of consent alone is sufficient to justify the search, the evidence also reveals that the police officers had probable cause to suspect that appellant’s car contained stolen property. Under these circumstances, the officers would have been justified in searching appellant’s car even had he refused his consent. (See People v. Myles, supra, at p. 47; People v. Brajevich (1959) 174 Cal.App.2d 438, 443 [344 P.2d 815].) The trial court did not err in admitting the marijuana into evidence.

Appellant next contends that the district attorney was guilty of prejudicial misconduct by repeatedly questioning appellant concerning prior acts of criminality for purposes other than impeachment and knowledge of the character of marijuana. The line of questioning to which appellant objects occurred after appellant had already testified on direct examination that he had been convicted of possessing marijuana in 1952. On cross-examination, the district attorney asked appellant how long he had been smoking marijuana in the past. Appellant replied that he had been smoking it for three or four months prior to his arrest in 1952. Appellant further stated that he had some marijuana on him at the time of that arrest. The district attorney then asked him whether this marijuana had been in bulk or cigarette form, to which appellant replied that he did not know since he had just purchased a bag of it prior to being arrested, and had not had a chance to look at it. Appellant was then asked whether the marijuana he had previously smoked was in the same form as the cigarettes found in his car. Appellant ‘replied that the cigarette paper had been of a different color. The district attorney then asked appellant whether the type of paper used had any effect on the marijuana. At this point counsel for appellant objected to this line of questioning on the ground that it had already been established that appellant knew what marijuana was. Upon the sustaining of this objection, *143 the district attorney asked appellant whether he had been smoking marijuana at the time of his arrest in Santa Eosa. Appellant replied that he had not smoked marijuana since his arrest in 1952.

Appellant alleges that this line of questioning was designed solely to show his continuing criminality. The contention is not well founded. On the contrary, it is apparent to us that the district attorney’s questions were designed to show that appellant had previously used marijuana and was thus familiar with the drug. In view of the fact that appellant had asserted that he did not know how the marijuana got into his car and that it must have been planted, it was certainly logical for the district attorney to show that appellant had used the drug before and that it was recognizable to him in the form of the cigarettes found in his car. Furthermore, it is difficult to see how prejudice could have resulted from these questions when the only act of “criminality” brought out was appellant’s 1952 conviction, which had already been admitted by him during examination by his own counsel.

It is to be noted that appellant’s counsel made only one objection to the district attorney’s questions. At that point, counsel for appellant objected to an inquiry regarding the paper used in making the cigarettes. When this objection was sustained, the district attorney asked no further questions connected with the 1952 arrest, but merely asked appellant whether he had been smoking marijuana immediately prior to his arrest in Santa Rosa.

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Bluebook (online)
198 Cal. App. 2d 138, 17 Cal. Rptr. 659, 1961 Cal. App. LEXIS 2518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-weire-calctapp-1961.