Court Opinion

ID: 9723512
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:18:20.836818+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:49.280410
License: Public Domain

SCOTT, J.
I concur with the majority’s holding that section 20A of the San Francisco Municipal Code must be read, to include “maliciousness” as an element of the offense it creates. I dissent, however, from that portion of the majority opinion which holds that the evidence in this case must be excluded.
The majority hold that there is insufficient evidence to support a strong suspicion petitioner acted with malice in obstructing or hindering sidewalk traffic and, therefore, her arrest was without probable cause. A review of the record, however, reveals that petitioner was observed by the arresting officer for five minutes prior to the arrest on the sidewalk at 582 Haight Street in San Francisco. She was standing by herself in the middle of the sidewalk in such a manner as to hinder or obstruct the flow of traffic. During that time the officer observed five to seven people who had to change their course of direction to gain access to Haight Street because of petitioner, including a couple who had to enter the street in order to pass around her.
Taken alone, this evidence would not be sufficient to support a strong suspicion of malice, but this was not the first instance in which the arresting officer observed such conduct by petitioner. On five prior occasions, within a year of the date of arrest, he had observed petitioner taking up a similar position on the sidewalks of the neighborhood, informed her of the provisions of section 20A, and warned her not to hinder or obstruct traffic on the sidewalk. The last such occasion was less than two weeks prior to the date of arrest.
Penal Code section 7, subdivision 4 provides that the terms “‘malice’ and ‘maliciously’ import a wish to vex, annoy, or injure another person, or an intent to do a wrongful act.... ” Knowing that petitioner was warned on five prior occasions that her conduct constituted a violation of section 20A, an ordinary and prudent man observing her conduct at the time of the arrest would be led to entertain a strong suspicion that petitioner intended to commit a wrongful act. The arresting officer had probable cause for arresting petitioner for a violation of section 20A, *60even when it is read to include the element of “maliciousness”; therefore, the resulting seizure of the evidence was valid.
I also disagree with the majority in their holding that the evidence in this case must be suppressed because the arrest was made for a violation of a defectively drafted ordinance, regardless of the fact that the arresting officer acted in good faith in reasonably relying upon the ordinance as written, in effecting the arrest. The majority view is directly contrary to the holding of the United States Supreme Court in its recent decision in Michigan v. DeFillippo (1979) 443 U.S. 31 [61 L.Ed.2d 343, 99 S.Ct. 2627]. In DeFillippo the court held that an arrest made in good faith reliance on an ordinance, which at the time had not been declared unconstitutional, is valid regardless of a subsequent judicial determination of its unconstitutionality. I am not unmindful that the rulings of the United States Supreme Court are not binding upon this court when interpreting the California Constitution. (People v. Brisendine (1975) 13 Cal.3d 528 [119 Cal.Rptr. 315, 531 P.2d 1099].) However, the reasoning in DeFillippo is both compelling and consistent with the interpretation given the California Constitution by the courts of this state.
The court in DeFillippo focused upon the reasonableness of the arresting officer’s conduct. It began its analysis with the fundamental principle that “the Constitution permits an officer to arrest a suspect without a warrant if there is probable cause to believe the suspect has committed or is committing an offense.” (443 U.S. at p. 36 [61 L.Ed.2d at p. 349].) The court then concluded that, in the case before it, there was abundant probable cause to believe that defendant’s conduct violated the terms of the ordinance. It held that the subsequently determined invalidity of the ordinance did not undermine the validity of the arrest, emphasizing that probable cause is determined by looking to the “facts and circumstances within the officer’s knowledge.” (Id., at p. 37 [61 L.Ed.2d at p. 349].) It concluded that the officer should not be required to anticipate a future holding by the courts but may reasonably rely upon the constitutional validity of the ordinance when effecting the arrest. The court stated (at p. 38 [61 L.Ed.2d at p. 350]): “Police are charged to enforce laws until and unless they are declared unconstitutional. The enactment of a law forecloses speculation by enforcement officers concerning its constitutionality—with the possible exception of a law so grossly and flagrantly unconstitutional that any person of reasonable prudence would be bound to see its flaws. Society would be ill *61served if its police officers took it upon themselves to determine which laws are and which are not constitutionally entitled to enforcement.”
The principles upon which the court in DeFillippo based its conclusion are not foreign to the California Constitution. Probable cause for an arrest exists “when the facts known to the arresting officer ‘would lead a man of ordinary care and prudence to believe and conscientiously entertain an honest and strong suspicion that the person is guilty of a crime.’” (People v. Harris (1975) 15 Cal.3d 384, 389 [124 Cal.Rptr. 536, 540 P.2d 632].) In determining whether probable cause exists for an arrest, the law looks only to the facts and circumstances presented to the officer at the time of the arrest. (People v. Ingle (1960) 53 Cal.2d 407, 414 [2 Cal.Rptr. 14, 348 P.2d 577].) The fact that we have subsequently interpreted section 20A of the San Francisco Municipal Code to include the element of “maliciousness” does not render the arrest invalid or require the suppression of the evidence which was seized incident to the arrest. The question here is probable cause, not guilt or innocence on the substantive charge of violating the ordinance.
The California courts have faced this issue twice with the same result that I propose here. In People v. Carnesi (1971) 16 Cal.App.3d 863 [94 Cal.Rptr. 555], the defendant was arrested under a Los Angeles ordinance which proscribed drinking alcoholic beverages upon any street, sidewalk or parkway, or any unlicensed public place. After arrest, four secobarbital capsules were found in his pocket. The defendant contended on appeal that the Los Angeles ordinance was unconstitutional. At the time of the arrest there had been no judicial holding regarding its constitutionality. The court held that this defense was not available to the defendant in the prosecution for dangerous drugs: The court held that the arrest would not be rendered invalid by a subsequent holding that the ordinance was unconstitutional where the officers reasonably relied, in good faith, upon the apparently valid ordinance. Therefore, the court held, the search made incident to the arrest was also valid.
Similarly, in People v. Gibbs (1971) 16 Cal.App.3d 758 [94 Cal.Rptr. 458], the arresting officer stopped defendant’s vehicle because it was emitting excessive exhaust smoke in violation of Vehicle Code section 27153. Upon approaching the vehicle the officer saw, in plain view, a marijuana cigarette in the passenger compartment of the car. A further search yielded other narcotics and dangerous drugs. On appeal the defendant challenged the constitutionality of the Vehicle Code section. *62The court held that the constitutionality of section 27153 was not relevant to a determination of probable cause for an arrest, employing the same reasoning utilized in People v. Carnesi, supra.
The California courts have reached similar conclusions on analogous issues. A search made incidental to an arrest under a state statute is not invalid if it is subsequently discovered that the statute was defectively drafted and did not state a valid offense, where the officer reasonably relied, in good faith, upon the apparent validity of the statute and there was probable cause for the arrest. (People v. Medina (1971) 15 Cal.App.3d 845 [93 Cal.Rptr. 560].) A search incident to an arrest made under a traffic warrant is not invalid, if the traffic warrant is subsequently found to be defective, where the arresting officer reasonably relied, in good faith, upon its apparent validity. (People v. Weitzer (1969) 269 Cal.App.2d 274, 294-297 [75 Cal.Rptr. 318].) Similarly, evidence seized in plain view by officers executing a writ of possession is not required to be suppressed, if the statute authorizing the issuance of the writ is found to be unconstitutional, where the arresting officers reasonably relied, in good faith, upon the apparent validity of the writ. (People v. Jackson (1970) 14 Cal.App.3d 57, 68-69 [92 Cal.Rptr. 91].)
The California courts have also held that an arrest may be valid despite a good faith mistake of law (Elder v. Bd. of Medical Examiners (1966) 241 Cal.App.2d 246, 261-263 [50 Cal.Rptr. 304]), or mistake of fact (People v. Hill (1968) 69 Cal.2d 550, 553 [72 Cal.Rptr. 641, 446 P.2d 521]). Further, in searches based on information from informants, our courts have consistently held that it is the reasonableness of the officer’s reliance that is important rather than the ultimate validity of the information. (See People v. Hall (1974) 42 Cal.App.3d 817, 822 [117 Cal.Rptr. 228]; People v. Balassy (1973) 30 Cal.App.3d 614, 620 [106 Cal.Rptr. 461].)
Running throughout these cases is the underlying assumption that where the arresting officer reasonably relies, in good faith, upon the apparent validity of a statute, court process, or factual information supplied to him, no purpose would be served by excluding evidence discovered incident to an arrest if the statute, court process, or factual information is later found to be invalid or untrue.
The purpose underlying the exclusionary rule is two-fold. It is designed to deter police from engaging in unconstitutional searches and *63seizures and to relieve the courts from being compelled to participate in illegal conduct. (People v. Blair (1979) 25 Cal.3d 640, 655 [159 Cal.Rptr. 818, 602 P.2d 738]; People v. Cahan (1955) 44 Cal.2d 434, 445-446 [282 P.2d 905, 50 A.L.R.2d 513].) The court in Blair expanded upon the rationale underlying the rule in these terms: “The rationale underlying this basis for the rule, as explained in Cahan, is that it is morally incongruous for the state to flout constitutional rights and at the same time demand that its citizens obey the law, that government teaches by example, and that if the government becomes a law-breaker, its action breeds contempt for the law. The ‘success of the lawless venture depends entirely on the court’s lending its aid by allowing the evidence to be introduced. . . Out of regard for its own dignity as an agency of justice and custodian of liberty the court should not have a hand in such “dirty business.’”” (25 Cal.3d at p. 656.) When the San Francisco Board of Supervisors enacted section 20A of the Municipal Code it did not become a “lawbreaker” or engage in a “lawless venture.” At most it enacted a defective ordinance whose defects have been cured here by the addition of one word, “maliciousness.” This is not the type of “dirty business” which the courts attempt to avoid in invoking the exclusionary rule.
The arresting officer reasonably relied, in good faith, upon the apparent validity of section 20A, as written, in arresting the petitioner. He did not engage in any abusive conduct in effecting the arrest or in obtaining the subsequently seized evidence. No legitimate purpose would be served by excluding the evidence in this case.
I would deny the petition for writ of mandate.
A petition for a rehearing was denied May 1, 1980. Scott, J., was of the opinion that the petition should be granted. The petition of real party in interest for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied June 4, 1980. Clark, J., Richardson, J., and Manuel, J., were of the opinion that the petition should be granted.