People v. Superior Court (Shayan)

In treating with the petition for writ of mandate filed August 27, 1993, by the People of the State of California and the Santa Monica Police Department, we are directly concerned only with the propriety of the superior court’s order of August 25, 1993, an order which required petitioners to return to The Wholesale Connection or its representatives approximately 1,120 car stereo components from which the manufacturers’ serial numbers had been removed. These items had been obtained during the execution of a search warrant that authorized their seizure in that there existed reason to believe they might be stolen, or were possessed with the intent to use them as a means of committing a public offense. In fact, at the time the challenged order was made, a complaint already had been filed in the municipal court charging Kaveh Shayan, the president and majority stockholder of The Wholesale Connection, with violating Penal Code section 537e, a misdemeanor.

Why the motion seeking return of the seized items was not heard by the judge who issued the warrant, as required by subdivision (b) of section 1538.5, is not explained. Perhaps it was because it was characterized as a…