Hart

Because, as a practical matter, the stated reason for the rule may have become lost in the era of cross-designation and, now, court unification, I question the vitality of Lilienthal’s (People v. Lilienthal *494 (1978) 22 Cal.3d 891 [ 150 Cal.Rptr. 910 , 587 P.2d 706 ]) holding that a magistrate’s ruling on a motion to suppress is not reviewable if it is not raised again in the superior court. Even so, while we may not be bound by a holding of the Supreme Court premised on court structures and responsibilities that now have been altered in ways that render the rule arguably artificial, the rule should be changed by the Supreme Court, if it is to be changed at all. There may be a reason for it. Therefore, I agree that defendant’s challenge to the search of her purse was waived for purposes of appeal when her attorney failed to raise the issue in the superior court.

I also agree that defendant’s attorney’s failure to raise the matter of the search in superior court, under these circumstances, necessarily places into question the effective assistance of defendant’s counsel. Since there could have been no sound tactical reason for failing to pursue a motion which, if successful,…

The defendant parked her van in a residential area in the middle of the night, purportedly for a tryst with a man where they would not be seen together. Advised by a resident of the van’s suspicious presence in the neighborhood, a sheriff’s deputy contacted the couple. After detaining the claimed trysters, the deputy searched the defendant’s purse, left in the van, for her identification. While the California identification card in the purse identified her, the methamphetamine therein incriminated her. A jury found her guilty of possession of a controlled substance.

On appeal, the defendant asserts the methamphetamine should have been excluded as the fruit of an illegal search. We conclude she failed to preserve this issue for appeal because she did not raise it at trial. We also conclude trial counsel was not ineffective for not preserving the issue for review because the search for identification was justified by the important and legitimate governmental interest of officer safety.

Procedure

The defendant was charged by complaint with possession of a controlled substance. A preliminary hearing was held before James T. Ford, “Judge of the Sacramento Municipal and…

NICHOLSON, Acting P.J.

The defendant parked her van in a residential area in the middle of the night, purportedly for a tryst with a man where they would not be seen together. Advised by a resident of the van's suspicious presence in the neighborhood, a sheriffs deputy contacted the couple. After detaining the claimed trysters, the deputy searched the defendant's purse, left in the van, for her identification. While the California identification card in the purse identified her, the methamphetamine therein incriminated her. A jury found her guilty of possession of a controlled substance.

On appeal, the defendant asserts the methamphetamine should have been excluded as the fruit of an illegal search.

We conclude she failed to preserve this issue for appeal because she did not raise it at trial. We also conclude trial counsel was not ineffective for not preserving the issue for review because the search for identification was justified by the important and legitimate governmental interest of officer safety.

The defendant was charged by complaint with possession of a controlled substance. A preliminary hearing was held before James T. Ford, "Judge of the Sacramento Municipal and…