People v. Patterson CA4/1

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Because Patterson’s sole appellate challenge relates to the merits of his pretrial suppression motion, which we conclude was properly denied, we discuss only briefly the evidence presented at trial. On May 9, 2018, San Diego Police Department vice detectives conducting an undercover sting operation negotiated a prostitution transaction with 16-year-old Precious. The detectives took her into custody and, because of her young age, contacted detectives with the department’s Human Trafficking Task Force (Task Force). Those detectives obtained Precious’s consent to search her nearby hotel room, which yielded indicia of prostitution and a Samsung cell phone. Detectives took Precious to a police station for questioning. At the station, Precious gave detectives permission to search the Samsung cell phone and an additional cell phone—a black ZTE brand phone—she had in her possession when taken into custody. Detectives downloaded the contents of the ZTE phone and found numerous text messages with a contact named “EL” that suggested a pimp/prostitute relationship. The phone also contained a video of Precious orally copulating a male. Using information on…