Rios

This appeal by defendant Rios, followed his jury waiver, a finding of his guilt of violating Penal Code section 12025 and an order granting him probation.

The only issue presented at the trial was the validity of a- police search which disclosed his possession of a revolver in an automobile. The facts are not in substantial dispute.

Two officers were patrolling their beat in a high-crime area in a marked police car. Their vehicle made a routine right turn at an intersection, and as it did so, the vehicle’s headlights flashed across an automobile which was legally parked at a curb. In the light, the officers observed the other car’s two occupants “duck down” out of sight. The intersection was sufficiently lighted to enable one in the vicinity to see the police car’s official markings. From the two men’s conduct the officers entertained a suspicion that a robbery or burglary might be impending. When the officers centered their spotlight on the other vehicle, the two men in it returned to a normal sitting position. The police car was then stopped and the officers walked to the other car for the purpose of questioning its occupants and examining their identification.

The…