Opinion ID: 1201769
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel for Failure to Move to Suppress Evidence Seized From Camper

Text: Defendant contends that investigating officers violated the constitutional proscription against unreasonable searches (U.S. Const., 4th Amend.) when they searched the Cudjo camper following defendant's arrest; that certain prosecution exhibits at trial (defendant's survival knife, one pair of MacGregor athletic shoes, and a pair of cut-off jeans) were the tainted fruit of this illegal search; and that he was denied his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel (U.S. Const., 6th Amend.) by his trial counsel's failure to bring a motion to suppress this evidence. The record before us does not support defendant's contention. Because the legality of the search was never challenged or litigated, facts necessary to a determination of that issue are lacking. For example, defendant assumes that the officers did not have a warrant authorizing the search, but he provides no citation to the record to establish that fact. Also, as the Attorney General notes, Maxine Cudjo testified at the preliminary hearing that she consented to the search of the camper, and the search might be upheld on this basis. Defendant suggests in response that the consent may be invalid, but this is just speculation. Because defendant has not proven that the search was unlawful, his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel must be rejected. (See Kimmelman v. Morrison (1986) 477 U.S. 365, 375 [91 L.Ed.2d 305, 319, 106 S.Ct. 2574]; People v. Wharton (1991) 53 Cal.3d 522, 576 [280 Cal. Rptr. 631, 809 P.2d 290].)