254 Cal. App. 2d 25 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1967
Defendant was charged with possession of heroin (§ 11500, Health & Saf. Code) and a prior federal narcotic felony conviction. The matter was submitted to the trial court on the transcript of the testimony taken at the preliminary hearing. No additional evidence was offered and defendant did not testify. He was found guilty as charged and the prior conviction found to be true. Defendant appeals from the judgment.
Deputies Trujillo and Kennerly were assigned to the narcotic detail; Deputy Trujillo had been a narcotic officer for approximately seven years and had participated in several hundred arrests involving narcotics and their illegal use. Around 7 p.m. on May 10, 1965, the deputies went to a residence on South Cíela with a warrant of arrest for a violation of parole on a narcotics conviction for one Lopez; Lopez’ car was parked in front. After being told by his mother that Lopez was not home, the deputies left, returning about
Appellant claims that the discovery and seizure of the heroin in his pocket was the result of an exploratory search made without reasonable cause for his arrest.
In the absence of a warrant, a peace officer may arrest a person whenever he has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a felony. (§ 836, Pen. Code; People v. Torres, 56 Cal.2d 864, 866 [17 Cal.Rptr. 495, 366 P.2d 823] ; People v. Fischer, 49 Cal.2d 442, 446 [317 P.2d 967] ; People v. Ingle, 53 Cal.2d 407, 412 [2 Cal.Rptr. 14, 348 P.2d 577].) “To constitute probable cause for arrest, a state of facts must be known to the officer that would lead a mn-n of ordinary care and prudence to believe, or to entertain a strong suspicion, that the person arrested is guilty.” (People v. Hillery, 65 Cal.2d 795. 803 [56 Cal.Rptr. 280, 423 P.2d 208] ; People v. Stewart, 62 Cal.2d 571, 577-578 [43 Cal.Rptr. 201, 400 P.2d 97] ; People v. Cockrell, 63 Cal.2d 659, 665 [47 Cal.Rptr. 788, 408 P.2d 116].)
Appellant says that the deputy’s testimony as to what Perez’ “conduct . . . indicated” to him, and his opinion that he (defendant) was trying to dispose of a narcotic by swallowing it, constituted a conclusion and opinion which only an expert could give, and it was error for the court to
We detect an inference that the trial judge should have specifically limited certain portions of Deputy Trujillo’s testimony to “probable cause.” Of course, defendant’s guilt in the crime of possession of heroin was established by the testimony of the deputy that upon defendant’s arrest he found 3 grams of heroin on defendant’s person in his right trouser pocket; it is then obvious that all of the evidence relating to what occurred prior to defendant’s arrest was offered on the issue of probable cause. There simply was no reason for . formally limiting the testimony, for. the evidence was given on the preliminary hearing to the magistrate and the same was submitted to the court sitting without a jury.
Appellant says that " character evidence may only be
The judgment is affirmed.
Wood, P. J., and Fourt, J., concurred.
Appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied October 25, 1967.