People v. Superior Court

*814 Opinion

Petitioner seeks a writ of mandate directing respondent court to deny real party’s motion to suppress evidence in a criminal case.

Facts

On August 24, 1981, Bakersfield Police Officer Molinar and his partner were on patrol in uniform in a marked police car. The officers were assigned as a “prostitution patrol.” There was a problem at the time with numerous prostitutes walking the Union Avenue area in Bakersfield. The officers were assigned to contact the prostitutes and try to get them to leave Bakersfield; they were not instructed to arrest prostitutes. Since most of the prostitutes were from out of town, they often cooperated by departing.

At approximately 12:45 a.m., Officer Molinar saw real party and five or six other people standing in the parking lot of the Bakersfield Inn; all but two of this group were women.

Officer Molinar suspected the women were prostitutes because of their manner of dress; he felt his prior contact with street prostitutes enabled him to identify prostitutes. The officer also suspected real party was a pimp because he was standing with the women and the officer was aware of several pimps in the area.

As the officers approached the…