Source: https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-one-1960-cadillac-coupe-27291
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 18:16:05+00:00

Document:
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. ONE 1960 CADILLAC COUPE, LICENSE NO. CCB 205, SERIAL NO. 60 G 024889, Defendant; WILLIAM REULMAN, Defendant and Respondent.
Stanley Mosk and Thomas C. Lynch, Attorneys General, William E. James, Assistant Attorney General, and Jack K. Weber, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Sam Bubrick for Defendant and Respondent.
The People appeal from a judgment denying forfeiture of a 1960 Cadillac automobile registered to William Reulman and alleged to have been used in the unlawful transportation or to facilitate the unlawful possession of marijuana by Reulman while an occupant thereof. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11610.) The sole question on appeal relates to the propriety of the detention and arrest of Reulman and the subsequent search and seizure which disclosed contraband in his possession which, under the facts, had necessarily been carried in the Cadillac.
The only witness to appear at the trial of the cause was [62 Cal.2d 94] the arresting officer, Charles Balf, an experienced narcotics investigator in the City of Pasadena. In midafternoon on June 7, 1963, he responded to the call of a private citizen who had discovered a kit containing apparatus used in administering narcotics. The kit was found in a flower planter box adjacent to the sidewalk at the front of his place of business, and had not been there twenty-four hours prior to the report.
Reulman, in furnishing identification, gave the officers an expired automobile operator's license. According to the witness he appeared to be very nervous and evasive in answering questions. He first stated that he had never been arrested, but one of the officers made a radio check and was advised that Reulman had a record. He then admitted a prior arrest by a "vice officer."
In answer to another question he stated that he had only been taking a walk along the sidewalk, but later stated that he had gone to the barbershop in search of a friend.
After Reulman denied any knowledge of the kit when exhibited to him the officer asked: "Well, I would like to look at your arm." Reulman answered, "Okay," and the officer requested: "Would you roll your sweater up on your right [62 Cal.2d 95] arm?" Reulman did so, revealing five puncture marks on the inside of his elbow. The officer, whose qualifications as an expert in matters involving the illegal use of narcotics was not disputed, testified that one of the marks might have been made "within the past 24 hours," that a second one could have been made within the last two days, and that all the marks were scars from intravenous injections of a kind "commonly found on subjects using narcotics." Reulman denied that the marks were from a hypodermic needle.
When asked if he had a weapon Reulman produced and delivered a knife from his pocket.
Although no formal arrest was made at this point, it must be deemed that Reulman was involuntarily restrained thereafter. He was searched without his prior consent, and an aspirin bottle containing marijuana was found in his possession. He stated: "Well, you can't blame me for trying," when asked about the bottle, and stated that he had concealed it in a vacant lot the day prior to the arrest. He was thereupon formally arrested for possession of marijuana.
 It is well established that a police officer in the discharge of his duties may detain and question a person when [62 Cal.2d 96] the circumstances are such as would indicate to a reasonable man in a like position that such a course is necessary to the proper discharge of those duties.  In People v. Mickelson, 59 Cal.2d 448, we stated at page 450 [30 Cal.Rptr. 18, 380 P.2d 658]: "... we have consistently held that circumstances short of probable cause to make an arrest may still justify an officer's stopping pedestrians or motorists on the streets for questioning. ... Should the investigation then reveal probable cause to make an arrest, the officer may arrest the suspect and conduct a reasonable incidental search. [Citations.]"  And at page 452 we stated as follows: "We do not believe that our rule permitting temporary detention for questioning conflicts with the Fourth Amendment. It strikes a balance between a person's interest in immunity from police interference and the community's interest in law enforcement. It wards off pressure to equate reasonable cause to investigate with reasonable cause to arrest, thus protecting the innocent from the risk of arrest when no more than reasonable investigation is justified."
 In the instant case the officers observed only that defendant was nervous, appeared to be wary of them, and that he parked his car adjacent to the point where the kit was found and thereafter took a rather aimless walk in the near vicinity. Further observations by the arresting officer to the effect that Reulman looked like an untruthful person and as though he did not belong in the Cadillac are not impressive and appear to add little to create any real suspicion, even when we consider that the officer was an experienced narcotics investigator, familiar with the conduct of suspects in like circumstances. (See People v. Cowman, 223 Cal.App.2d 109 [35 Cal.Rptr. 528].) We find little, if anything, to distinguish Reulman from any other harried citizen who may have innocently parked his automobile in the same spot as did Reulman. The trial judge's finding that reasonable cause for detention and questioning is lacking is thus substantially supported by the record.
Traynor, C. J., Peters, J., Tobriner, J., Dooling, J., fn. * concurred.
I dissent. I would reverse the judgment for the reasons expressed by Mr. Justice Ashburn in the opinion prepared by him for the District Court of Appeal in People v. One 1960 Cadillac Coupe (Cal.App.) 39 Cal.Rptr. 421.
­FN *. Retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court sitting under assignment by the Chairman of the Judicial Council.
SCOCAL, People v. One 1960 Cadillac Coupe , 62 Cal.2d 92 available at: (https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-one-1960-cadillac-coupe-27291) (last visited Sunday April 21, 2019).

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