Vera
People v. Vera
Opinion
Lead Opinion
RAPHAEL J.
*1083 Defendant and appellant Esteban Vera was convicted of possessing one kilogram of a controlled substance that was discovered through a dog sniff during a traffic stop of his vehicle. An officer had stopped Vera due to a tinted-window infraction. We must determine whether the dog sniff unconstitutionally prolonged his detention for that traffic stop, requiring *1084 suppression of the drugs under Rodriguez v. United States (2015) --- U.S. ----, 135 S.Ct. 1609 , 191 L.Ed.2d 492 ( Rodriguez ). We affirm the trial court's denial of Vera's suppression motion.
I. FACTS
On June 22, 2017, City of Rialto police detective Joseph Maltese was driving in his patrol car with his narcotics-certified dog. On Riverside Avenue in Rialto, Maltese observed a vehicle driving with windows that were illegally tinted, in violation of California Vehicle Code section 26708, subdivision (a). Maltese directed the vehicle to stop, and both vehicles pulled into a lot and parked.
When Maltese approached the vehicle on foot from behind, he could not see through the rear window because it was so darkly tinted; the driver, Vera, was visible only through the driver's side rearview mirror.…