P. v. Rockwell

Filed 2/15/06 P. v. Rockwell 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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, Bruce F. Marrs, Judge. Affirmed.

Jean Lin, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General,

Jaime L. Fuster and Dawn S. Mortazavi, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION

The police executed a search warrant at the home of defendant Ronald Ray Rockwell and found marijuana and methamphetamine. The People filed an information charging defendant with several drug related offenses. Defendant moved to quash the search warrant. (Pen. Code, § 1538.5.) The trial court denied the motion. The matter went to trial. The jury convicted defendant of possession of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377) and possession of marijuana for sale (Health & Saf. Code, § 11359). The trial court sentenced defendant to three years in state prison for the marijuana conviction, and a concurrent term of two years for the methamphetamine conviction.

In this appeal, defendant primarily challenges the denial of his motion to suppress. We find that the supporting affidavit, including the sealed portion, supplied probable cause for the issuance of the search warrant. Based upon our Supreme Court's recent decision in People v. Black (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1238, we reject defendant's claim of sentencing error. We therefore affirm the judgment.

DISCUSSION

A. THE SEARCH WARRANT WAS SUPPORTED BY PROBABLE CAUSE

1. The Search Warrant

The magistrate issued the search warrant authorizing the search of defendant's home based upon an affidavit submitted by Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Stephen Maroun. Deputy Maroun is a court-qualified narcotics expert. In the unsealed portion of his affidavit, the deputy sets forth the details of conversations he had with two untested confidential informants as well as the results of surveillance he conducted of defendant's home. The specifics are the following.

Between July 12 and July 20, 2004,[1] a confidential but untested informant (CI-1) contacted Deputy Maroun. CI-1 told the deputy that defendant was selling cocaine and marijuana from his home located at 16910 Wing Lane and that some of the contraband was stored in vehicles at that address. CI-1 described defendant as a Black male between 32 and 34 years old, 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, and weighing approximately 180-200 pounds. CI-1 stated defendant had access to the following three cars: (1) a 1990 dark blue Oldsmobile sedan; (2) an early 1980's dark brown Chevrolet Monte Carlo; and (3) a mid-1980s silver colored Chevrolet Caprice Sedan.

Thereafter, Deputy Maroun used law enforcement resources to confirm that CI-1 had given him defendant's correct residential address and age. In addition, he obtained a color photograph of defendant from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

During the afternoon of July 15, Deputy Maroun conducted a surveillance of defendant's home at 16910 Wing Lane. A man walked to the front door of the residence. Defendant opened the door, stepped out onto the porch, and spoke with the man. Defendant â€