People v. Sanders CA1/2

BACKGROUND

In June 2014, the Sonoma County District Attorney filed an information charging defendant with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell (Health & Saf. Code, § 11359), allowing a place for preparing or storing a controlled substance (id., § 11366.5, subd. (a)), and transportation of marijuana (id., § 11360, subd. (a)). Defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

1 Defendant subsequently filed his suppression motion pursuant to Penal Code section 1538.5, which the People opposed. Defendant sought the exclusion of any statements by, or observations of, him, any observations by the officer who detained and arrested him, and any evidence of a crime committed by him. In October 2014, the trial court held a hearing on the motion. I. Shelley Dawson’s Testimony Shelley Dawson, manager of a storage unit rental facility in Santa Rosa, California, testified that she called the police from the facility on October 15, 2013, because she suspected a patron and another man were moving marijuana plants into a storage unit based on what she smelled and saw. Asked at the hearing when she first smelled marijuana that day, she said that sometime before 6:00 p.m. a patron came into…