Madrid

In Cady v. Dombrowski (1973) 413 U.S. 433 [ 37 L.Ed.2d 706 , 93 S.Ct. 2523 ] (Dombrowski), the United States Supreme Court recognized that a significant portion of police work is devoted to community caretaking functions, where no criminal misconduct is under investigation. In the performance of such functions, evidence of a crime may be discovered and then challenged in court, requiring a determination of the applicability of the community caretaking exception to the warrant requirement. In this case we examine a vehicle stop initiated by an officer who believed a passenger might have been ill. The stop disclosed evidence resulting in charges for narcotics offenses against the driver, appellant Luis Losada Madrid. Appellant argues the community caretaking exception has never been applied in California to permit a detention, and we should not expand it to approve warrantless vehicle stops. Alternatively, he contends that even if the exception could apply to some vehicle stops, the information available to the officer in this case was insufficient to justify the detention. We agree with appellant’s second contention and reverse.

BACKGROUND

The following evidence was…