Martines

Appellant was convicted of violating Health and Safety Code, section 11530, possession of marijuana. No question of the sufficiency of the evidence is raised; appellant’s sole ground for reversal is the inadmissibility of the contraband because of an illegal search and seizure.

On July 21, 1963, at 1:15 a.m., Officers Germann and Rosenbroek, while patrolling a high-frequency burglary area, noticed appellant and two companions walking through an unlighted alley at the rear of a closed business area. The officers stopped and asked appellant for some identification. He stated that he had none. Officer Germann testified that he then made a cursory search, "due to the darkness in the alley and for my own safety, ...” This was a search merely of the outside of appellant’s clothing.

“As I ran my hands over his left pants pocket, left front pants pocket, I felt a hard object and an object below that, which felt like it was a knife. At that time I went into defendant Martinez’s [sic] pocket....”

The officer continued: “As I reached into the defendant [appellant] Martinez’s [sic] pocket, front pants pocket, in an effort to remove the knife I first removed what felt like a wad of paper. I…