People v. Noujaim CA4/2

BACKGROUND

Because Noujaim challenges only the denial of the motion to suppress, we do not

recount in detail the evidence introduced at trial and instead focus on the facts presented

at the hearing on the suppression motion.

Deputy Damian Chavez of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was on

duty as a motorcycle traffic officer on September 10, 2019, at 7:45 p.m. when he

2 responded to a vehicle versus pedestrian collision near the intersection of Graham Street

and Old Valley Road in Moreno Valley, arriving at 7:52-7:56 p.m. As he approached the

scene, Chavez saw emergency medical personnel arriving and providing assistance to a

person lying in the roadway, and a small crowd of people was gathering on the sidewalks.

Chavez conferred with Deputy Aurelian Perde, who had arrived earlier, and they

determined that Chavez would act as the primary deputy responsible for the investigation.

Perde had already determined that Noujaim was driving the car that had struck the

pedestrian, and he had located two possible witnesses. Perde interviewed the first

witness while Chavez assigned other deputies to shut off traffic on both roadways and to

secure the accident scene to…