People v. Lee

Defendant was charged with possession of heroin for sale. At the preliminary hearing he moved to suppress heroin-filled balloons which had been seized from his person. The magistrate found that the balloons had been properly seized following a detention and pat-search under Terry v. Ohio (1968) 392 U.S. 1 [ 20 L.Ed.2d 889 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 ]. However, the superior court granted defendant’s motion under Penal Code section 995 to set aside the information on the ground that the evidence should have been suppressed. We hold that the magistrate’s ruling is sustainable, and that the superior court erred in setting aside the information.

1. Facts.

The evidence adduced at the preliminary hearing established that on February 1, 1986, Officers Dunbar and Robertson were on foot near the intersection of Seventh and Pine Streets in Oakland, asking citizens about possible drug sales in that area. A woman told them that within the preceding five minutes she had been walking past a park on the west side of Wood Street between Eighth and Goss when a man offered to sell her heroin. The area she described was known to Dunbar for “high narcotic activity.” The woman said that the man…