People v. Superior Court

Pursuant to subdivision (o) of Penal Code section 1538.5, the People petition for a writ of mandate to require the superior court to set aside its order suppressing the use as evidence of a quantity of marijuana and peyote taken in execution of a search warrant.

The pertinent portion of the affidavit of Sergeant Weir of the Los Angeles Police Department, which served as a basis for the issuance of the search warrant, reads as follows:

.Having in mind defendants’ contentions, as they subsequently came to be, we call attention to the averments that “Fall led them [the officers] upstairs,” that “Steve Goldfisher ... let the officers in,” and that “the affiant asked Fall to lead him into the other parts of the house to see if there were any other occupants and Fall willingly did so.”

Defendants initially moved in the municipal court “to traverse the search warrant,” presumably pursuant to subdivision (b) of Penal Code section 1538.5. That motion was heard and determined at the same time as the preliminary examination. The contraband and evidence were admitted by the magistrate and the defendants were held to answer. The defendants then brought their motion in the superior…