People v. McBride CA4/3

FACTS

I.

THE TRAFFIC STOP AND INFORMATION

McBride slept in a car’s passenger seat when two patrolling Laguna Beach Police Officers initiated a traffic stop for traffic violations. The driver, who was McBride’s boyfriend and on parole, responded very slowly to the emergency lights and drove a half mile before eventually stopping. One officer spoke with McBride and saw her purse on the passenger seat floorboard. McBride consented to the officer searching her purse. The purse was a large mesh tote bag with miscellaneous “junk drawer” type items inside, along with a half-full bottle of alcohol, a knife, socks, a pack of cigarettes, and a smaller orange makeup bag. Inside the orange bag, the

1 All undesignated statutory references are to the Health and

Safety Code.

2 officer found McBride’s California identification card, a small plastic bag of methamphetamine, a pipe used for ingesting methamphetamine, and a firearm. The firearm had one round in the chamber and six in the magazine. The police department later fire-tested the firearm and determined it was operable. The firearm and ammunition were never tested for DNA. An information charged McBride with possession of a controlled…