Gastello

This case presents issues related to those we decide today in People v. Low (2010) 49 Cal.4th 372 [ 110 Cal.Rptr.3d 640 , 232 P.3d 635 ] (Low), concerning Penal Code section 4573. As pertinent here, this statute, which is part of a larger scheme regulating crimes in prison and jail, makes it a felony for “any person” to “knowingly bring[]” a controlled substance into a custodial setting.

In Low , we conclude that the statute applies to someone who has a controlled substance in his possession when arrested for another crime, and who knowingly and voluntarily brings the drugs into jail when booked pursuant to that arrest. Low relies on the language and history of section 4573, and on similar statutes banning contraband in custody, to find that the statute does not exempt persons who enter jail under the specified circumstances, including arrestees.

Low also rejects a claim that section 4573 implicates the Fifth Amendment privilege against compulsory self-incrimination because the arrestee must choose before entering jail between admitting unlawful drug possession or violating section 4573 and risking greater penalties. As Low explains, a violation of section 4573 does not…