People v. Talamantes CA2/4

INTRODUCTION

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) raided a commercial building where the defendant, Jose Luis Talamantes, lived in one of the suites. Deputies found drugs, drug paraphernalia, firearms, and ammunition in the building, including in the suite where defendant was living and in a nearby suite with a desk bearing defendant’s gang moniker. Defendant had a large amount of cash in his pocket when he was detained. A jury found defendant guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)1), possession of methamphetamine for sale (Health & Saf. Code § 11378), and unlawful possession of ammunition (§ 30305, subd. (a)(1).) The court sentenced defendant to nine years in prison. On appeal, defendant asserts four errors. First, he contends the trial court erred in limiting its review of the investigating deputy’s personnel records under Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531 (Pitchess), and he asks us to conduct an independent review of the in-camera Pitchess hearing to determine if any relevant personnel records were incorrectly withheld. We find the court did not limit review of the personnel records, nor did it abuse its…