Valle

I. BACKGROUND

Valle was charged in an April 2023 complaint with three felonies: possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)); carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle (id., § 25400, subd. (a)(1)); and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person (id., § 30305, subd. (a)(1)). He entered a plea of not guilty and moved to suppress the evidence of the handgun obtained as a result of a canine search of his vehicle, arguing that the search violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The following evidence was presented at the August 2023 hearing on the motion to suppress, which was heard concurrently with the preliminary hearing. On March 31, 2023 at approximately 10:00 p.m., Santa Rosa Police Officer Brett Wright was on patrol with his partner. Wright saw defendant Valle pumping gas at a local station. He recognized Valle from prior investigations as an active gang member and noticed that the vehicle did not have a front license plate. He decided he would make a traffic stop due to the missing plate. Wright did not suspect Valle of any other illegal activity at that time. Approximately three minutes before…