Arguello

A jury found defendant guilty on a count charging him with possession of heroin for sale. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11500.5.) Outside of the presence of the jury defendant had admitted a conviction of murder suffered in 1950. A motion for new trial was denied, but the court reduced the offense to simple possession of heroin. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11500.) Defendant appeals.

[1a] We take the statement of facts leading to defendant's arrest and the seizure of the heroin from his own brief: "Various officers of the State Narcotic Agency and members of the Los Angeles Police Department, accompanied by defendant's parole officer, Lloyd Starkweather, went during the night time to the 100 block of South Hill Street and at that time saw the defendant approaching the area where they were standing. The defendant, when about 100 feet away from the officers, stopped and turned away and started walking in the opposite direction; at this time Mr. Starkweather called defendant's name and defendant stopped, turned around and waited. Upon approaching the defendant, the defendant was ordered to accompany the officers to the State Building. While accompanying the officers, defendant pulled a…

A jury found defendant guilty on a count charging him with possession of heroin for sale. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11500.5.) Outside of the presence of the jury defendant had admitted a conviction of murder suffered in 1950. A motion for new trial was denied, but the court reduced the offense to simple possession of heroin. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11500.) Defendant appeals.

We take the statement of facts leading to defendant’s arrest and the seizure of the heroin from his own brief: “Various officers of the State Narcotic Agency and members of the Los Angeles Police Department, accompanied by defendant’s parole officer, Lloyd Starkweather, went during the night time to the 100 block of South Hill Street and at that time saw the defendant approaching the area where they were standing. The defendant, when about 100 feet away from the officers, stopped and turned away and started walking in the opposite direction; at this time Mr. Starkweather called defendant’s name and defendant stopped, turned around and waited. Upon approaching the defendant, the defendant was ordered to accompany the officers to the State Building. While accompanying the officers, defendant pulled a brown paper…

I concur in the judgment. It is my opinion that it is for the trier of fact to determine the intentions and *423 purposes of a defendant from his conduct and other circumstantial evidence, and that in the trial of that issue there is no place for the opinions of professed mind readers. It will therefore be error in a prosecution for possession of narcotics for sale to elicit from a police officer, or other witness, the opinion that the defendant had an intention to sell the narcotics in his possession. Such an opinion would be as incompetent as an opinion that the defendant knew that the substance he had was a narcotic.

Appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied October 19, 1966.