Hirsch

Appealing defendant was charged, jointly with John Biera, Richard Elias and Darlene Elias (count I) with conspiracy to possess, transport and sell heroin, in violation of section 182 of the Penal Code; (count II) with the sale of heroin, in violation of subdivision (a) of section 11352 of the Health and Safety Code; (count III) with possession of heroin for sale, in violation of subdivision (a)(2) of section 11351 of the Health and Safety Code; (count IV) with maintaining a place for the sale of heroin, in violation of subdivision (a) of section 11366 of the Health and Safety Code. One prior felony conviction was alleged. After a trial by the court, trial by jury having been duly waived, *990 defendant was found guilty under count III, but not guilty under counts I, II and IV. No finding was made as to the alleged prior. Defendant was sentenced to state prison; he has appealed; we reverse.

Acting on information from three informants, the police began a surveillance of an apartment building at 1255 Mariposa Street, in the City of Glendale. The information received from the informants, together with data obtained from official sources and the observations during the…

I concur in the result reached by Justice Kingsley in his opinion. However, I disagree with his view that the arrest of defendant was lawful. I would hold that there was a lack of reasonable or probable cause for a warrantless arrest.

Justice Kingsley cites a statement from People v. Gamboa (1965) 235 Cal.App.2d 444, 448 [ 45 Cal.Rptr. 393 ], to the effect that “The totality of information, coming from a number of independent sources, may be *993 sufficient even though no single item meets the test [of reliability]. If the smoke is heavy enough, the deduction of a fire becomes reasonable.”

This theory is not an acceptable one when it comes to the question of whether there is probable cause to effect a warrantless arrest. It may be reasonable to show a deduction of fire from heavy smoke, but it is certainly not reasonable to draw a deduction of reasonable belief that defendant committed a felony because of a host of suspicious circumstances. If “the totality of information,” relied upon by the arresting police officers to justify an arrest, is nothing but the total of information —all from untested or unreliable informants—the total is no better than each unreliable item. The…

KINGSLEY, Acting P.J.

Appealing defendant was charged, jointly with John Biera, Richard Elias and Darlene Elias (count I) with conspiracy to possess, transport and sell heroin, in violation of section 182 of the Penal Code; (count II) with the sale of heroin, in violation of subdivision (a) of section 11352 of the Health and Safety Code; (count III) with possession of heroin for sale, in violation of subdivision (a)(2) of section 11351 of the Health and Safety Code; (count IV) with maintaining a place for the sale of heroin, in violation of subdivision (a) of section 11366 of the Health and Safety Code. One prior felony conviction was alleged. After a trial by the court, trial by jury having been duly waived, defendant was found guilty under count III, but not guilty under counts I, II and IV. No finding was made as to the alleged prior. Defendant was sentenced to state prison; he has appealed; we reverse.

Acting on information from three informants, the police began a surveillance of an apartment building at 1255 Mariposa Street, in the City of Glendale. The information received from the informants, together with data obtained from official sources and the observations…