People v. Juarez CA6

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Facts and Charges2 Christopher Jones was a sergeant with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. While on duty the evening of October 2, 2022, about 10:18 p.m., he was asked to respond to a citizen complaint about a possible suicide attempt near a vehicle on the Mar Monte overpass on Highway 1. As Sergeant Jones approached the overpass, he saw a red sedan parked on the shoulder, with two men standing outside towards the back of the car. The vehicle was parked facing westbound on the overpass’s shoulder, which was a small shoulder lane without space for parking for nonemergency purposes. The overpass was a “highly unusual” place to park, and it raised in Jones’s mind concerns about suicide and the risk of getting hit by another vehicle. Although Jones did not think a crime was occurring, he believed the men had parked illegally on the overpass, particularly because the vehicle “was parked over the fog line.” As Sergeant Jones approached the men, it did not appear to him that they were trying to jump off the overpass, but he was not sure why they were there. Jones intended to identify the men and determine why they were illegally parked on the…