People v. Cannon

Appellant, together with his codefendant, Frank G. Winborn, was found guilty by a jury of violation of section 11557 of the Health and Safety Code (maintenance of place for disposal of narcotics) after having admitted two prior convictions of which one was of possession of narcotics (§ 11500 of said code). Under section 11712 of said code he was sentenced to San Quentin. He appeals from the judgment of conviction, arguing that the evidence is insnfficient to support it, considering also that part of the evidence was allegedly inadmissible because obtained as the result of an allegedly illegal entry and search without a warrant. We have found the appeal without merit.

As a foundation for the admittance of evidence obtained by the entry and search on August 10, 1955, of the apartment rented by appellant, Inspector Chasten of the State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement testified outside the presence of the jury in substance as follows: He had information that the two defendants had rented an apartment at 1411A Golden Gate Avenue under an assumed name and maintained it for the selling of narcotics, and that addicts were entering the place day and night mainly through the back door. He knew of appellant’s prior narcotics conviction and had before arrested him in relation to a narcotics violation. He knew of defendant Winborn’s conviction as an addict and had observed symptoms of addiction on him. Beginning August 5, 1955, he placed the premises under observation at different times. He saw Winborn and also other known addicts enter the apartment through the back door and saw appellant enter the front entrance from which the apartment is reached. However, he intended to make at least two purchases of narcotics before making an arrest. On the morning of August 10, 1955, he had a confidential operator of the State Bureau make two purchases of one bindle each. The operator informed him that when he visited the apartment for that purpose both defendants were there. With respect to these purchases the witness

“A search of a person and the place where he is arrested as an incident to a lawful arrest may be justified only if he was committing or attempting to commit an offense in the officer’s presence, or the officer had reasonable cause to believe he had committed a felony, or the arrest is made pursuant to a warrant. (People v. Simon, 45 Cal.2d 645 , 648 [ 290 P.2d 531 ].) Reasonable cause is such a state of facts as would lead a man of ordinary care and prudence to believe, or entertain an honest and strong suspicion, that the person is guilty of a crime. (People v. Kilvington, 104 Cal. 86 , 92 [ 37 P. 799 , 43 Am.St.Rep. 73 ].) Reasonable cause to justify an arrest may consist of information obtained from others and is not limited to evidence that would be admissible at the trial on the issue of guilt. (People v. Boyles, 45 Cal.2d 652 , 656 [ 290 P.2d 535 ].) Information provided by an anonymous informer is relevant on the issue of reasonable cause, but in the absence of some pressing emergency an arrest may not be based solely on such information. (Willson v. Superior Court, 46 Cal.2d 291 , 294 [ 294 P.2d 36 ].) Such information, together with the personal observations of the police, may justify their reliance on the information they had received. (Id.) If, before the search and seizure, the officers were justified in making an arrest, it is immaterial that the search and seizure preceded rather than followed the arrest. (People v. Simon, 45 Cal.2d 645 , 648-649 [ 290 P.2d 531 ].)” (People v. Moore, 141 Cal.App.2d 87 , 89-90 [ 296 P.2d 91 ].) The known circumstances stated constituted reasonable cause to believe that

The further evidence received at the trial, including that which was obtained by the search we have found not to have been unlawful, was to the following effect: The bindles obtained from the operator were proved to contain one grain of heroin each. The person who opened the door before which the inspector waited was a known addict named Webber. Upon seeing the inspectors he placed a small, white object in his mouth. When ordered to “spit it out” he spit it to the floor. (There was no evidence that he was forced to do so at pistol point as claimed by appellant.) The bindle was proved to contain one and one-half grains of heroin. The defendants were both in the apartment, and on defendant Winborn was found among other currency the two five-dollar bills which had been given to the operator. There were, moreover, two other known addicts in the apartment and during the presence of the officers in the apartment three more known addicts entered by the back door. No other narcotics than the bindle spit out by Webber were found. The manager of the apartment house testified that appellant rented the apartment using the name of George Eeid. A couple of times defendant Frank Winborn paid the rent, saying that George sent the rent by him. The defendants did not testify in their own behalf or introduce any evidence.

Appellant’s contentions that the evidence was insufficient to support the judgments because no narcotics were found in the apartment except those on Webber for which appellant was not responsible, because the money given for the purchase of narcotics was not found on him and because the operator could have hidden the bindles he gave to the inspectors on his person because of imperfections in their search of him or have obtained the bindles elsewhere after passing through defendants’ apartment, are wholly devoid of merit. Appellant

Judgment affirmed.