Robinson

In this appeal from a judgment of conviction on three counts of forgery, defendant raises two issues: whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence obtained as the result of a police search of the car in which he was riding, and whether the trial court improperly permitted the introduction of certain of his statements in view of the recent decision in Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) 378 U.S. 478 [ 84 S.Ct. 1758 , 12 L.Ed.2d 977 ]. We explain why we have rejected each of these contentions.

On March 14,1963, Officer Rathbone and Sergeant Lewis of the Needles Police Department, while riding in a patrol car in that city, received a call from the police station to the effect that two men in a car were drunk; that one of them, who had a credit card, had asked a service station attendant whether he had a “hot sheet” on credit cards; that, after obtaining an affirmative reply, the man purchased gasoline and paid for it with cash. The officers arrived at the service station as the automobile left; they followed it for several blocks, observing that it was proceeding in a wobbling manner. When Sergeant Lewis turned on the red light of the patrol ear the officers saw defendant, who was a…