Strasburg

Following the denial of his motion to suppress, defendant Gabriel Reed Strasburg pleaded no contest to misdemeanor possession of more than 28.5 grams of marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, § 11357, subd. (c)). He contends that the sheriff’s deputy who seized the marijuana lacked probable cause to search his car because defendant was allowed to possess marijuana under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Health & Saf. Code, § 11362.5). We disagree because the Compassionate Use Act provides a limited defense against prosecution, but does not provide a shield against reasonable investigations and searches. Accordingly, we affirm.

I. FACTS

We take the facts from the transcript of the hearing on the motion to suppress.

Napa County Deputy Sheriff Aaron Mosely was on routine patrol in Calistoga about 1:40 p.m. on October 25, 2005. He was in the area of Petrified Forest Road and Foothill Boulevard. He saw defendant and another person sitting in a car in the parking lot of the Mobil gas station on Petrified Forest Road. Mosely drove his patrol car into the parking lot and parked to the left and to the rear of defendant’s vehicle. He was not blocking defendant’s car from leaving and…