Cunha

Petitioner was charged with possession of heroin. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11500.) The superior court denied his motion to dismiss the information (Pen. Code, § 995), and we issued an alternative writ of prohibtion.

At 4:25 p.m. on July 23, 1969, Officers Lipgens and McCarthy of the Berkeley Police Department took seats at a window of a hot dog stand located between Telegraph Avenue and People’s Park on Dwight Way. They were in plain clothes and were carefully observing pedestrians who walked by. Officer McCarthy had participated in 15 to 20 narcotics arrests in that area in three months; Officer Lipgens had participated in 30 to 40 arrests in six months. In a period of about one-half hour, they observed *355 10 to 20 people walk by the window, and suspected that four to six of these “might possibly be dealing or something like that.” These four to six suspects were disregarded as soon as they passed from the officers’ view.

Officer Lipgens, who was seated facing Telegraph Avenue, observed petitioner and a companion walking towards him on Dwight. His suspicion aroused by “the manner in which they were walking up the sidewalk and talking to each other and looking around. .…

I dissent, for in my view the arresting officers had probable cause to arrest petitioner. The majority correctly state the applicable rule that “To constitute probable cause for arrest, a state of facts must be known to the officer that would lead a man of ordinary care and prudence to *359 believe, or to entertain a strong suspicion, that the person arrested is guilty.” (People v. Hillery, 65 Cal.2d 795, 803 [ 56 Cal.Rptr. 280 , 423 P.2d 208 ], italics added; accord, People v. Curtis, 70 Cal.2d 347, 358 [ 74 Cal.Rptr. 713 , 450 P.2d 33 ].)

After a full hearing on the matter, the committing magistrate (see Pen. Code, § 872) found that the arresting officers acted with probable cause, stating that, “Probable cause ... is very closely related with suspicion, it’s a strong suspicion by a conscientious and by a reasonable man that a crime is being committed and these circumstances would lead any reasonable man, certainly a reasonable police officer, to the conclusion that a crime was probably being committed. In fact, it’s the only reasonable conclusion that I think a person can come to who observed this particular series of events.” 1 There is ample evidence in the record to support…