Saba

A judgment creditor garnished cash seized by a county sheriff during an arrest of the judgment debtor on an unrelated criminal matter. The judgment debtor claimed a public policy exemption for *1256 property seized by law enforcement officers from an arrestee. (Emmanuel v. Sichofsky (1926) 198 Cal. 713, 715 [ 247 P. 205 , 48 A.L.R. 580 ].) The trial court denied the debtor’s claim of exemption and ordered the cash released to the creditor. We reverse the order.

Facts

In 1991, respondent Nora E. Saba was renting a room at Nevada’s Kit Kat Guest Ranch where women “entertain guests in the rooms.” Appellant Bobby Jehu Stroup was a “guest.” Appellant punched and whipped respondent in the face. Appellant was convicted of battery and the conviction was affirmed in 1992. Respondent then sued appellant for personal injuries and recovered a default judgment totaling over $2 million in 1996. Respondent could not locate appellant to collect on the judgment. Two years later, in August 1998, Nevada issued an arrest warrant for appellant on murder charges. Appellant was arrested later that month in California’s Sonoma County. In the course of the arrest, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s…