Ashburn

After the trial court denied his motion to suppress evidence found in his car during an impound search, defendant Marvin Lee Ashburn pleaded guilty to transportation of methamphetamine. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379, subd. (a).) The trial court sentenced defendant to two years in state prison. Defendant contends the police were not entitled to impound and search his car based on an incorrect California Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) computer record that reported his car's registration had been expired for more than eight months. The record was inaccurate because defendant had registered the car the day prior to the stop. We shall affirm.

At 11:24 a.m. on July 30, 1999, Redding Police Officers Kristen Fredrick and Roger Moore pulled over a gray Buick Regal driven by defendant for speeding and because its registration was expired. Before the officers pulled the car over, the police dispatcher had advised them that the vehicle's registration status was "non-op" and the registration had been expired for eight months.

Defendant told the officers that the registration on the car was current. Defendant claims he told the officers he had registered the car the day…