THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
PHILLIP RONALD PALMQUIST, Defendant and Appellant.
Court of Appeals of California, First District, Division Three.
*5 COUNSEL
Harry V. Lehmann and Steven C. Duditch for Defendant and Appellant.
George Deukmejian, Attorney General, Robert H. Philibosian, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Edward P. O'Brien, Assistant Attorney General, John T. Murphy and Stan M. Helfman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
WHITE, P.J.
This appeal, pursuant to Penal Code section 1538.5, subdivision (m), is from a judgment entered after defendant and appellant Phillip Palmquist's motion to suppress evidence was denied and he pled guilty to a violation of Health and Safety Code section 11359.
Facts
On December 13, 1979, Officer Robert Jones of the Napa Special Investigations Bureau was contacted by a citizen informant who advised that appellant and his roommate, Bridget Barjkovich, were involved in sales of hashish. The informant further related that appellant and Barjkovich resided at and sold narcotics from 2021 First Street, apartment No. 3. Officer Jones was aware from a case in which he was previously involved that appellant and Barjkovich had resided together two years prior.
Officer Jones contacted appellant's probation officer, Jan Barr, who advised that appellant was on probation, but had failed to report since *6 September 1979. Ms. Barr further advised that appellant was subject to a search probation condition and she requested Officer Jones to investigate further. Ms. Barr provided Officer Jones with a copy of the probation report and the order, which provided, in part, that appellant was not to possess or deal in drugs. The probation order also provided that appellant was subject to a search of his person and residence by his probation officer or by any law enforcement officer with or without a search warrant, warrant of arrest or reasonable cause. Officer Jones checked with Barjkovich's employer and verified her address as being the one given by the informant. Officer Jones also verified with the landlord that the apartment was leased in Barjkovich's name. Officer Jones then attempted to confirm appellant's presence at the residence by calling the residence and asking for "Phil." The female who answered stated that he was not home. Officer Lynn Harmston of the Napa Special Investigations Bureau also phoned the residence on December 17, 1979, and spoke with a person who identified himself as "Phil."
Later that day Officer Jones and other officers went to the residence at 2021 First Street, apartment No. 3, and observed appellant within the residence looking out of the living room window. Officer Jones recognized appellant from mug shots. Officer Jones then went to the apartment door, knocked repeatedly and announced he wished to speak with appellant about his probation conditions. There was no response. Appellant attempted to leave the house through the back door, but a police officer was stationed at the back of the house. Finally, Officer Jones forced the front door open, entered the residence and located appellant standing between the kitchen and living room. Appellant was immediately arrested "[f]or violation of his probation, for refusal to answer the door as ordered, and since [sic] he had not reported to his probation officer since September of '79." The officers then conducted a search of the apartment. In plain view on a table in the living room was a black and beige gram scale. In the refrigerator and in a ski parka in the kitchen were a number of plastic bags containing 52.45 grams of marijuana (i.e., between 2 and 3 ounces).
After appellant was advised of his Miranda rights, Bridget Barjkovich returned to the apartment. Appellant volunteered that all of the marijuana was his, and that the ski parka was his as well.
Appellant moved to suppress the evidence discovered during the search, stipulating that the preliminary hearing transcript would be *7 considered in determining the motion. The motion was denied. Thereafter appellant renewed his motion to suppress. Said motion was also denied.[1]
Appellant attacks the search and seizure pursuant to his probation condition on the grounds that: (1) it was conducted by police officers rather than by the probation department as a subterfuge for a general police investigation; (2) there was no reasonable suspicion that he was involved in criminal activity; (3) there was no reasonable belief he lived at the residence searched; (4) it was conducted pursuant to an incorrect and defective probation order; and (5) it was conducted subsequent to a warrantless arrest in the home, which arrest violated People v. Ramey (1976)
(1) As to appellant Palmquist's first contention, our Supreme Court in People v. Mason (1971)
(2) We turn now to the question of whether the officers had sufficient cause to lawfully conduct the search. Mason held valid the advance waiver of Fourth Amendment rights in order to obtain probation. (People v. Mason, supra,
*9 Where, as in the case at bench, a probationer expressly consents to probation searches without a search warrant and without any reasonable cause it would appear, therefore, that he has waived whatever claim of privacy he might otherwise have had. (See People v. Mason, supra,
Nevertheless, we address appellant's argument in order to establish that reasonable cause[4] existed even though none was required. Appellant argues that the single tip from an unidentified informant was insufficient as a matter of law to establish reasonable cause to trigger the search of his residence. To establish his contention he contrasts the facts in the present case with the facts in People v. Mason, supra,
It is true as appellant Palmquist contends that the officers were not percipient witnesses to the illicit activity described by the unnamed informant[5] nor did they receive corroboration of the informant's tip *10 from any other person. Indeed, we observe that Officer Jones gave very few details regarding the informant or the tip. Nevertheless we note that courts have found reasonable suspicion to arise on the basis of a single informant's tip without any further corroboration. (See e.g., People v. Thomas (1975)
Further, when the officers arrived at appellant's residence he refused to answer the door and attempted to flee out the rear after being told that the officers were there to discuss his probation conditions with him. Appellant Palmquist "had already, as a condition of probation, waived any right to refuse a law enforcement officer entry to [his] premises to conduct a search" (People v. Constancio, supra, at p. 546), and the officers were not required to recite the basis for their suspicion that a search was warranted in order to gain entry. Consequently, the fact of appellant's attempted flight could lead one to suspect criminal activity to which appellant had been a party might have taken place in the residence. (People v. Garcia, supra,
We conclude that substantial evidence existed to support the trial court's finding that at the time the officers here entered Palmquist's residence they reasonably suspected that criminal activity was afoot. (People v. Anthony (1970)
*11 (3a) Appellant also contends that the search was conducted beyond the scope of the probation order since the probation order states that only his residence was subject to search and the police officers had no reason to believe appellant lived at the residence searched. Citing Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
The evidence adduced at the preliminary hearing indicates that the informant told Officer Jones that appellant lived at the 2021 First Street address with Bridget Barjkovich, and that Officer Jones knew from a case in which he had previously been involved that appellant had lived with Ms. Barjkovich two years prior. It was also shown that the officers had made two telephone calls to the residence and at least found that a "Phil" answered the phone and that a "Phil" possibly resided there. Then, just prior to their entry, an officer in the search party observed a person he believed to be appellant looking out the window.
(4) It is settled that where probation officers or law enforcement officials are justified in conducting a warrantless search of a probationer's residence, they may search a residence reasonably believed to be the probationer's. (People v. Kanos (1971)
(5) In his reply brief appellant raises for the first time[7] the argument that the judgment should be reversed because "there was at best a 50 percent chance the jacket and refrigerator belonged to Appellant," citing People v. Montoya (1981)
The question remains whether there was reason to believe the refrigerator and ski parka were either jointly shared by appellant and Ms. Barjkovitch (People v. Alders (1978)
The ski parka, being an item of clothing, requires a slightly different analysis. In both Alders and Veronica, it was presumed that distinctly female articles of clothing did not belong to the male probationer/parolee and were therefore not subject to a search. In Alders, the court said that where there "was no reason to suppose" (p. 317) that a female coat was jointly shared, a search thereof is not warranted. In Veronica, the court opined that "The particular circumstances may indicate that the object is, in fact, one of the parolee's own effects or, at least jointly possessed by him and another. In this case, however, there was simply nothing to overcome the obvious presumption that the purse was hers, not his." (Veronica, supra, at p. 909.) According to the police report, the green ski parka was found lying on the floor in the southwest corner in the kitchen near where appellant Palmquist was arrested. Presumably the parka was not "distinctly female." After the parka was searched appellant volunteered that the parka belonged to him. Although the evidence is thin, it is sufficient to support a finding that the jacket was either jointly possessed by appellant and Ms. Barjkovitch or that it was appellant's own jacket. (6) "In reviewing a Fourth *14 Amendment claim turning upon factual considerations, we may not reweigh the evidence and must indulge in any inference reasonably drawn by the trial court. [Citation.] If the trial court's `determination of [an] implicit factual question finds substantial support in the record ... we are therefore bound by it.' [Citation.]" (People v. Menifee (1979)
(7) Appellant next contends that the officers could not rely on the probation order in their possession to conduct the search because it did not contain the correct dates of his actual probation term, and it was not signed by any judge.[8] He analogizes to Bowyer v. Superior Court (1974)
*15 (8) Appellant lastly argues that assuming this court finds the officers reasonably believed the First Street apartment to be his residence, the search was nevertheless invalid because it was conducted subsequent to a warrantless arrest in a private residence without exigent circumstances. Appellant relies on People v. Ramey, supra,
Respondent points out that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the renewed motion to suppress in which this argument was first advanced because Ramey was not new law at the time and Payton merely adopted the reasoning of Ramey. (See Pen. Code, § 1538.5, subd. (h); People v. Superior Court (Edmonds) (1971)
It is true that warrantless arrests in the home are constitutionally impermissible where exigent circumstances do not exist to justify the arrest. However, it is equally clear that consent to enter also renders such entries reasonable. (People v. Escudero (1979)
*16 The judgment is affirmed.
Feinberg, J., and Barry-Deal, J., concurred.
NOTES
Notes
[1] Appellant thereafter pled guilty and was sentenced to the lower base term of 16 months. Execution of sentence was suspended and appellant was placed on probation on the condition that he serve six months in county jail.
[2] Appellant ultimately concedes the point in his opening brief at page 9.
[3] Consuelo-Gonzalez involves interpretation of the Federal Probation Act. In that case the court held that probation searches must be conducted by probation officers or in their presence. The court expressly declined to state an opinion on the constitutionality of Mason. (Id., at p. 266.)
United States v. Smith does not stand for the point for which it is cited. In that case a state parolee's consent to search was held involuntary under Fourth Amendment standards. The court also held that a parolee may be subject to a search by his parole officer if the circumstances reasonably suggested an actual or imminent parole violation; no reasonable suspicion was articulated in United States v. Smith. The issue of whether a police officer could have conducted a parole search, however, was not presented.
[4] "But the `reasonable cause' called for by the probation condition is not to be equated with probable cause for issuance of a warrant. We construe `reasonable cause,' in the context of the probation order, as meaning circumstances indicating that in the interests of effective probation supervision a search is advisable." (See People v. Kasinger, supra,
[5] When defense counsel requested the name of the informant the district attorney objected on grounds of relevance. He argued that the defense was entitled to the name of the informant only if it could prove that the informant's testimony could exonerate Palmquist. The court sustained the objection on grounds of relevance and privilege.
[6] In Icenogle, a confidential informant informed the police that the parolee was dealing in drugs from a particular address and provided the parolee's telephone number. Other officers obtained similar information and a surveillance of the premises was undertaken during which the parolee was observed. When the officers finally approached the parolee he told them that he lived at the address given by the informant.
In Mason, the officers traced the probationer's vehicle to the address listed as his residence. The vehicle from which the license number had been obtained was parked at that address when the officers arrived.
[7] Once appellant below produced evidence to show that the seizure was without a warrant, the People bore the burden of proving the justification for the warrantless seizure. (People v. Cruz (1964)
[8] A valid probation order was admitted into evidence at the preliminary hearing evidencing appellant's search condition.
[9] Also note that Penal Code section 1203.2, subdivision (a), provides that a peace officer may rearrest a probationer during the probationary period "without warrant or other process" for violation of probation or for a subsequent offense. (In re Thomas (1972)
