Date: 05-02-2024

Case Style:

The People v. Marlon Flores

Case Number: BA477784

Judge: Not Available

Court: Superior Court, Los Angeles County, California

Plaintiff's Attorney: Los Angeles County California Criminal Defense Lawyer

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

Los Angeles, California criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with possession of narcotics and gang activities.

The following facts were adduced at the suppression
hearing, at which Los Angeles Police Officer Daniel Guy was the
only witness. In May 2019, around 10:00 p.m., Officer Guy and
his partner, Michael Marino, were on patrol in the area of
Mariposa Avenue. Guy considered the location to be a “known
narcotic[s] area[]” and “gang hangout.” He had arrested
someone in the vicinity the night before for narcotics crimes. As
the officers drove by a cul-de-sac, they saw Flores standing alone
in the street beside a Nissan parked at a red curb. Flores looked
at the officers, walked around the back of the car, then “ducked”
behind it. The officers pulled up and parked behind the Nissan.
Officer Marino’s body camera captured the interaction
between Flores and the officers. The video begins as the officers
park the patrol car but remain inside. At 0:15 seconds, Flores’s
head comes into view from behind the Nissan. He is in
darkness. Flores stands and seems to be making a stretching
motion with one arm. At 0:37 seconds, he disappears from sight.
A few seconds later, he raises his head, then drops back out o
view. At 0:50 seconds, the officers step out of the car and
approach him. A flashlight illuminates the way. At 0:55
seconds, Flores appears on the camera’s recording. He is bent
over and facing away from the officers with both hands near his
right shoe. When Marino trains his flashlight on Flores, Flores
does not look around. He remains bent over and continues
moving his hands near his feet. The officers make no inquiry,
but at 1:03, one of them tells Flores to stand up. Flores remains
bent over. When Marino walks up behind Flores, Guy comes
around the Nissan and approaches from the other side. At 1:12,
Marino again directs Flores to stand. At 1:14, the officer says,
“Hey, hurry up,” and Flores begins to straighten. At 1:16, an
officer tells Flores, “Your hands behind your head.” Flores
complies and is directly placed in handcuffs.

Officer Guy testified that he detained Flores because he
believed Flores acted “suspicious[ly]” by “attempting to conceal
himself from the police” and then “pretend[ing] to tie his shoe.”
The officer suspected Flores was “loitering for the use or sales of
narcotics.” Guy gave no reason why he thought so, other than
the area and Flores’s behavior upon seeing the police. During a
pat-down search, the Nissan’s “blinkers activated” as if the
officer had “hit the key fob.” Officer Guy pointed his flashlight
into the car and saw what looked like a drug pipe. In response
to the officer’s inquiries, Flores said that the Nissan was his and
his wallet, and identification, were in the driver’s side door
pocket. Guy retrieved the wallet, looked inside, and found a
folded dollar bill containing suspected methamphetamine.
Officers also recovered a revolver from a backpack.

The trial court denied Flores’s motion to suppress the
evidence seized. The court reasoned that Flores’s acts of
“ducking,” “remaining hunched over,” and “toying with his feet,”
even after the officers approached and told him to stand, was
“odd behavior” and “suspicious.” The court observed that “any
normal human being would stand up and say, ‘Oh, you scared
me’ or ‘Oh, what can I help you with?’ or ‘Oh, why are you coming
towards me?’ ” It found Flores’s behavior “more than enough for
this Court to find that there were articulable facts to find
suspicion and enough for the officers to detain him, enough for
the officers to thereafter question about identification.”
Flores pleaded no contest to one count of carrying a loaded
firearm. (Pen. Code, § 25850, subd. (a).) In exchange, one count
of armed possession of methamphetamine was dismissed.
(Health & Saf. Code, § 11370.1, subd. (a).) Pursuant to the
terms of the bargain, he was ordered to serve three years’
probation. Conditions included five days in county jail, 90 days
in residential drug treatment, and 90 days of outpatient
treatment.

Outcome: Defendant was found guilty.

Affirmed on appeal.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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