People v. Prieto-Esparza CA3

BACKGROUND

California Highway Patrol Officer Jason Smith conducted a traffic stop of a truck driven by defendant in excess of the posted speed limit. Officer Smith lawfully searched defendant and found $760 in $20 bills in defendant’s pockets. Officer Smith, in conjunction with Officer Ryan Ellis of the Redding Police Department, also searched defendant’s vehicle. In it, they located 28 live rounds of .357 Magnum ammunition behind the passenger’s seat, another six rounds of the same ammunition in the driver’s side door, an unloaded .357 Magnum revolver in the center console, and a single plastic baggie containing 3.05 grams of methamphetamine next to the center console. A common dose of methamphetamine is 0.10 grams.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Health and Safety Code.

2 The officers searched the rest of the truck but did not find any contraband used for the consumption of methamphetamine. They did not believe defendant was under the influence of methamphetamine. In addition, the officers did not find any scales, pay/owe sheets or packaging materials that could evidence drug sales. At trial, Officer Ellis opined that the relatively large quantity of…