Colbert

A tree-shaped air freshener was hanging from the rearview mirror of defendant’s car. A police officer saw the hanging object, concluded that it was obstructing defendant’s view through the front windshield in violation of Vehicle Code section 26708, subdivision (a)(2), and detained defendant’s vehicle. Defendant asserts that the officer lacked an objective basis for concluding that the air freshener was obstructing his view through the front windshield. We conclude that the evidence in this case, unlike the evidence in People v. White (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 636 [ 132 Cal.Rptr.2d 371 ] (White), supports the magistrate’s finding that the officer had an objective basis for his belief that the air freshener was obstructing defendant’s view.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

On December 1, 2005, about 12:30 p.m., Agent Scott McCrossin of the Los Altos Police Department was driving westbound on Foothill Expressway in Los Altos in his patrol vehicle. As he passed an older, white Oldsmobile, he “observed an item hanging from the rear view mirror in the vehicle” that he believed was “large enough to obstruct [the driver’s] view through the front windshield.” The item hanging…