P. v. Brockman

Filed 5/26/06  P. v. Brockman CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b).  This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

            APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County.  Gerard S. Brown, Judge.  Affirmed.

            Laura L. Furness, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

            Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Lilia E. Garcia, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

            Pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm (Pen. Code, § 12021, subd. (a)(1)) and possession of a controlled substance, to wit, methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)).  Defendant also admitted that he had sustained a prior strike conviction.  (Pen. Code, §§  667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d).)  Defendant was subsequently sentenced to the agreed-upon term of 32 months in state prison and the remaining two allegations were dismissed.  On appeal, defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his suppression motion for numerous reasons, such as there was no reasonable suspicion to detain defendant, the detention was unduly prolonged, and the subsequent search of the shed was invalid.  We reject these contentions and affirm the judgment.

I

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND^[1]

            About 4:10 a.m. on May 2, 2005, Montclair Police Department Officers Gloria Perez and Deborah Camou separately responded to a possible prowler report from Doris Tindall in the Kingsley Street area of Montclair.  Upon their arrival, the officers saw Tindall standing in her front yard and a man, later identified as Dashon Casey, standing in an area south of the house near a bicycle lying on the side of the sidewalk.  The officers detained Casey and had him sit at the curb while they made contact with Tindall.  Tindall informed the officers that she had heard noises in her yard, had looked outside, and had seen Casey running across her yard.  Casey first denied being in Tindall's yard but then admitted using Tindall's yard that night as a shortcut to get to the Brockman house, which was directly behind Tindall's house, where he was going to visit defendant.

            Officer Perez walked to the Brockman house to verify Casey's story and determine whether Casey was or was not the prowler.  Officer Perez knocked on the Brockmans' door, and Wayne Brockman, defendant's father, answered the door.  Wayne confirmed that defendant lived there and told the officer that defendant was upstairs asleep.  When defendant failed to respond to several calls from his father, Wayne went upstairs.  Wayne returned several seconds later and informed the officer that defendant was not there.  Officer Perez informed Wayne of a possible prowler in the neighborhood; while the officer was speaking with Wayne, she was in radio contact with Officer Camou.  Officer Perez had a visual observation of Officer Camou and could hear her as well.

            While Officer Perez was at the Brockman house, Officer Camou continued to speak with Tindall.  Tindall told Officer Camou that there had been more than one prowler in her yard and that one or more may have jumped the rear fence into the Brockmans' yard.  Officer Camou went into Tindall's back yard and checked the back chain-link fence area.  The fence had strips of plastic missing, which allowed a clear view through the chain-link fence into the Brockmans' back yard.  While at the fence, Officer Camou saw three men standing near a metal shed in the Brockmans' back yard.  Officer Camou illuminated the men with her flashlight and ordered them to leave the rear yard and move toward the side gate of the yard where Casey had been detained and other officers were waiting.

            As Officer Camou notified other officers of her observations, Officer Perez heard over her radio that Officer Camou saw suspects in the Brockman back yard.  Officer Perez then asked defendant's father if it was â€