P. v. Felix

Filed 7/17/06 P. v. Felix CA2/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Wade Olson, Judge. Affirmed.

Robin R. Scroggie for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Robert F. Katz and Mary Sanchez, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION

The police executed a search warrant at the home of appellant Ancelmo Felix and found cocaine and methamphetamine. The People filed an information charging appellant with several drug related offenses. Appellant moved to quash and traverse the search warrant (Pen. Code, § 1538.5), to disclose the identities of confidential informants, and to discover whether he had been the subject of a wiretap investigation. The trial court denied all of the motions. Thereafter, appellant pled nolo contendere to the charge of sale or transportation of cocaine weighing more than 10 kilograms. (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 11352, subd. (a) and 11370.4, subd. (a)(3).)

This appeal challenges the trial court's denial of all of the defense motions. We find that appellant's plea precludes review of the trial court's rulings on his discovery motions. As for the other rulings, we find no error and therefore affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND Procedural Background

1. The Search Warrant

The magistrate issued the search warrant authorizing, inter alia, the search of appellant's home based upon an affidavit submitted by Detective Manuel Felix of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Detective Felix is a trained narcotics investigator and a court-qualified narcotics expert. His affidavit set forth the following facts.

Within the last two months, a confidential reliable informant (CRI) contacted Detective Felix. On seven occasions in the prior three years, the CRI had supplied narcotics detectives with accurate information about the criminal actions of third parties. The CRI had never provided Detective Felix with â€