In re Richard R. CA2/8

FACTS

Deputy Bryan Lamb of the Los Angeles County Sherriff‟s Department was patrolling the area near Rose Hills Cemetery in Whittier on May 21, 2011, at approximately 7:30 p.m. when he observed a Honda Civic parked near the cemetery sign. There were four people standing around the car and three people sitting inside, two in the front and one in the back. Lamb and his partner stopped near the Civic and as Lamb approached it on the passenger side, he smelled fresh marijuana smoke coming from the car. Richard was sitting in the back of the car and Lamb saw him “attempting to hide something underneath the driver‟s seat.” Lamb did not see what was in Richard‟s hands, if anything, before and during the time his hands were under the seat. After a lawful search, Deputy Lamb found three small baggies of marijuana underneath the driver‟s seat. This is the space Lamb observed Richard reach down into when he saw Lamb approach the car. The combined weight of the five baggies was just in excess of three grams of marijuana. Two other baggies were found under the driver‟s side floorboard. Richard was carrying two $5 bills and five $1 bills and a cell phone on his person. On the cell phone, an…