People v. Williams

Introduction

Willie Williams (Williams) appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial in which he was convicted of possession of a controlled substance, cocaine base, in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11350, a lesser included offense to that charged in the information filed against him.

As to the offense charged, the jury found him not guilty of possession for sale of cócaine base, in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11351.5. In an amendment to the information, it was further alleged that he had a prior conviction for possession of a controlled substance, in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11351, within the meaning of Penal Code section 667.5, subdivision (b), which the jury, in a bifurcated proceeding, found to be true.

Williams’s trial was preceded by two preliminary hearings. The first hearing resulted in dismissal of the charges against him, based on the magistrate’s granting of his motion to suppress the cocaine evidence pursuant to Penal Code section 1538.5. The charges were later refiled by the People and, at the conclusion of the second hearing where no suppression motion was made, he was held to answer.

At his…