People v. Nguyen CA6

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On the evening of November 4, 2018, San Jose Police Officer Brandon German conducted an enforcement stop on a car driven by Nguyen after German observed

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. expired registration tags. Officer Ronald Hisatomi, who was following German in a separate patrol car, also participated in the traffic stop.2 In response to German’s signaling, Nguyen pulled into a parking lot. As German walked up to the driver’s side of the car, he could smell burnt marijuana. Nguyen, who was the driver of the car, immediately handed German his driver’s license. There was a passenger in the front of the car, and she also provided German with her driver’s license. German returned to his patrol car to conduct a records check, then he re- approached and asked if there was anything illegal in the car. In response, Nguyen held up a jar with marijuana inside it. It was a small jar with a closed lid. German believed that Nguyen was transporting marijuana illegally because the jar did not appear to him to be a sealed package issued by a cannabis dispensary. German asked Nguyen for consent to search the car, but Nguyen…