People v. Adams CA2/6

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Prosecution Evidence Long Beach police officers Joshua Brearley and Andrew Fox and parole agent Kashifalighita were part of a drug enforcement team.4 While on patrol they saw Adams stopped at a red light at the intersection of Del Amo and Long Beach Boulevards. When the light turned green, they saw Adams make a right turn cutting across two lanes of traffic. They activated their lights and siren and followed him for a block. Adams pulled to the curb and legally parked on a residential street. The three officers approached the driver’s side of Adams’s vehicle, and Brearley asked him to roll down the window. When Adams failed to do so, Brearley opened the driver’s door. He immediately detected “a strong odor of marijuana [smoke] coming out of the vehicle.” Brearley asked Adams for his driver’s license. After patting his pockets and checking the center console, Adams told Brearley that he did not have it on him. At that time Brearley saw clear green plastic containers “consistent with . . . a medical marijuana container” in the driver’s door pocket and the center console. The container in the center console had a label on the outside indicating a…