People v. Soul CA4/3

FACTS

1. Prosecution’s Case a. Background Around 5:30 a.m. one morning in early September 2013, two Santa Ana Police Detectives, Luis Barragan and Jorge Arroyo, were engaged in an undercover prostitution suppression operation on Harbor Boulevard between MacArthur Boulevard and 17th Street in Santa Ana, an area notorious for prostitution that is sometimes referred to as “the track.” Barragan observed a woman known as Versey walking on Harbor Boulevard. Barragan described her as “walking the track in literally underwear.” Barragan watched Versey approach a car that had pulled to the curb. She and the driver

2 engaged in a brief conversation through the passenger window before Versey got into the car. The car drove away, but it returned about 10 minutes later. Versey got out of the car and went back to the curb. Within minutes, another car stopped. As before, Versey approached from the passenger side, had a quick conversation with the driver, and then got into the car. Again, she returned about 10 minutes later. However, this time when Versey got out of the car, she used a cell phone and quickly walked around the corner to a parked car. As she neared the car, Versey reached into…