People v. Gonzales

Defendants Gonzales and Gandara were accused of unlawfully possessing heroin. Gonzales admitted an allegation of the information that he had been convicted of violating section 11500 of the Health and Safety Code, a felony. In a jury trial, both defendants were convicted. Gonzales (in propria persona) filed a “Notice of Appeal.’’ It will be assumed that he has appealed from the judgment.

Appellant contends that there was no probable cause for his arrest or for the arrest of Gandara; and that the officers obtained the heroin as the result of unlawful search and seizure.

In the afternoon of January 29, 1959, Officer Fesler was on *372 East First Street in Los Angeles near a café which was known to him as a contact place for narcotic users and peddlers, and he followed a man who left that place and went to a parking lot which was several blocks from the café. That man, whose name was Frank Valdez, was not an informant but he was known to the officer as a narcotic user and peddler. The name of the man was disclosed at the trial. Valdez arrived at the parking lot about 3 p.m. Officer Fesler asked him if he had “scored” at the café on First Street. He replied in the negative, and also…