P. v. Coronado
Defendant Ever Antonio Coronado was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) for towing another vehicle with a rope on a highway and for traveling at more than 70 miles per hour. Neither defendant nor his sister operating the towed vehicle had a driver’s license. The officer intended to issue both defendant and his sister citations for driving without a valid driver’s license and to impound both vehicles. Prior to towing the vehicles from the scene, inventory searches were conducted. In the vehicle operated by defendant, two large bags of marijuana were found in the trunk. Defendant was then arrested and charged accordingly.
In a motion to suppress evidence, defendant challenged the legality of the impoundment and resulting search. The trial court denied his motion. Thereafter, defendant pled no contest to one count of transporting marijuana in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11360, subdivision (a). On appeal, defendant contends the vehicle he was operating should not have been impounded, and therefore, the inventory search of the vehicle was unreasonable and unconstitutional. We affirm.
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