P. v. Gonzalez

Filed 8/9/06 P. v. Gonzalez CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Randall Donald White, Judge. Affirmed.

Susan S. Bauguess, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Barry Carlton, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Raymond M. DiGuiseppe, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of an assault weapon (Pen. Code, § 12280, subd. (b))^[1] (count II), and exhibiting a firearm (§ 417, subd. (a)) (count III). In exchange, the remaining allegation of assault with a semiautomatic firearm on a peace officer (§ 245, subd. (d)(2)) (count I) and the attendant enhancement allegation were dismissed, and defendant was placed on formal probation for 36 months. On appeal, defendant contends (1) the trial court erred in denying his request to release the identity of the informant and redacted information contained in the search warrant; and (2) the trial court erred in denying his suppression motion because the police failed to comply with the knock and notice requirements of section 1531. We reject these contentions and affirm the judgment.

I

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND^[2]

Defendant was the suspected shooter in a homicide. On August 8, 2002, Riverside County Sheriff's Sergeant Russell Wilson was the leader of the team assigned to execute a search warrant on defendant's residence in Coachella. The residence, located in a rural area of the county, was a single-wide mobile home. The warrant was endorsed for night service and was for weapons believed to have been used in a drive-by shooting and homicide. The warrant did not authorize entry without knock and notice.

The team responded to the location between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. in a caravan of at least six vehicles. Sergeant Wilson and Deputies Alfredo Medina, Wilson Padilla, and Steve Jiminez approached the door of the trailer. No lights were on when they arrived, and it did not appear anyone was awake or moving around inside.

Sergeant Wilson did not believe there were any exigent circumstances that permitted the team to dispense with the knock and notice requirement before entry. Deputy Alfredo Medina knocked on the front door with his flashlight three to five times before loudly shouting in English and Spanish, â€