Guajardo

On the People’s appeal, we find the search of defendant Margarito Espinoza Guajardo was incident to a lawful arrest and *1741 therefore reverse the order dismissing the information charging him with one count of possessing cocaine base for sale.

Facts

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Kim and his partner stopped in front of a house while they were on patrol in an area Kim knew to have a high level of narcotics activity. Kim saw Guajardo (who Kim knew because he had arrested him a month earlier for selling narcotics) and two other men standing by the side of the house. As Kim watched, Guajardo handed a small object to lids companion and the companion, in turn, put the object inside a cigarette pack, which he then put in his shirt pocket. Based on his experience and training, Kim formed the opinion that Guajardo was selling drugs to the other man.

Guajardo and his companion then walked toward the patrol car, with a nervous Guajardo looking around as if he was anxious to walk away. Kim detained the men and performed a patdown search of Guajardo, during which he removed a small, rock-like object and $926 in cash from Guajardo’s pockets. Kim then searched the…

I dissent from the conclusion that the trial court erred in granting any part of the suppression motion. *1744 Probable cause to arrest exists when there are sufficient facts to cause a reasonably prudent police officer “ ' “to believe and conscientiously entertain an honest and strong suspicion” ’ ” that a particular person is guilty of a crime. (People v. Superior Court (Wells) (1980) 27 Cal.3d 670, 674 [ 165 Cal.Rptr. 872 , 612 P.2d 962 ].) Thus, probable cause is “ ‘supported by evidence which inclines the mind to believe, but leaves some room for doubt. . . . The test is not whether the evidence upon which the officer acts ... is sufficient to convict but only whether the person should stand trial. [Citation.]’ [Citation.]” (People v. Superior Court (Price) (1982) 137 Cal.App.3d 90, 96 [ 186 Cal.Rptr. 734 ].)

In this case, the prosecution relied upon the following factors to establish probable cause to arrest defendant: (1) Deputy Kim had arrested defendant for sales of narcotics approximately one month earlier; (2) defendant was observed in an area known for a high rate of narcotics trafficking handing a small object to another person; (3) the recipient of the object put it…