Dickinson

Dickinson pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale (former Health & Saf. Code, § 11500.5, now § 11351). He appeals the judgment (sentence suspended and probation conditioned on six months confinement in the county jail), arguing that the search warrant which uncovered the narcotics had been issued without probable cause.

Facts

On 5 January 1973, a Los Angeles police officer, Charles F. Ripley, applied for a warrant to search an apartment on Hi Point Street in Los Angeles, a Mustang automobile and the person of Jone Trotochau (codefendant). For probable cause he set out the following information: A reliable informant told him on 2 January that six ounces of cocaine could be purchased for $5,400 from a woman who would appear at a particular location in Los Angeles. Informant was given funds, kept under surveillance, and was seen to meet for 30 minutes with Jone Trotochau and one John Welsey McCoy at the designated location. Informant reported to Officer Ripley that he had arranged to make the purchase at another location later in the day.

*1036 After the meeting Trotochau drove away and was followed by an officer to a four-unit apartment building at the Hi Point…