Rios

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

At about 8:45 a.m., an Irvine police officer was on patrol in a parking lot in an area known for narcotics activity. The officer watched a woman (later identified as Rios) enter the parking lot in a Lexus SUV. Rios parked the SUV and walked towards a store. The officer got out of his patrol vehicle and looked into the SUV. The officer saw a plastic baggie with white residue in the front passenger door pocket, just below the window. The officer immediately recognized the white residue as narcotics residue. The officer returned to his patrol vehicle and watched as Rios eventually returned to her SUV and sat in the driver’s seat. The officer approached and told Rios what he had seen in her vehicle. Rios did not seem surprised. The officer asked Rios if there was anything else illegal in the car. Rios initially said there was not, then she admitted “there was, in fact, methamphetamine in the vehicle.” Rios pulled a small green box from the center console and handed it to the officer. The small cardboard box looked like a soap box from a hotel room. Rios told the officer she had just left a hotel. The officer opened the small box and saw inside “a clear…