O'Neal

The defendant appeals from a judgment following a verdict of the jury finding him guilty of possession and sale of marijuana in violation of section 11500 of the Health and Safety Code. He admitted and was found guilty of a prior felony conviction under the same section.

At approximately midnight of October 25, 1958, four members of the Stockton police force, accompanied by an informant, one Leslie Chambers, went to the vicinity of a dwelling at 242 West Market Street in the city of Stockton. No one lived on the first floor. One of the four rooms on the second floor was occupied by defendant and his common-law wife, Mary Ann O’Neal. The other rooms were occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Mosely and Mrs. Simms. The second floor also contained a community kitchen used by all of the tenants. At the rear of the building were stairs leading down to the backyard which was not accessible to the public generally.

The officers, after searching the informant Chambers and finding no narcotics, gave him a marked one dollar bill, the serial number of which had been recorded. The officers then stationed themselves a short distance from the house. When Chambers knocked at the front door of the dwelling,…