 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
People v. Zichwic12/21/2001
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
Following the denial of his suppression motion, defendant Daniel Zichwic pled no contest to a charge of second degree burglary of a PG & E utility van which occurred on November 14, 1998. (Pen. Code, §§ 459-460.) Other charges of petty theft of tools with a specified prior (§ 666) and possession of stolen tools (§ 496) were dismissed. Defendant also admitted the following criminal history. Defendant, born in April 1964, was convicted of one residential burglary in 1984, two residential burglaries in 1985, and two residential burglaries in 1992.
After denying defendant's motion to strike his five prior strike convictions of residential burglary, the trial court sentenced defendant to an indeterminate term of life in prison with a minimum term of 25 years under the Three Strikes law. (§ 1170.12, subd. (c)(2).)
On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his suppression motion and that the trial court misunderstood its discretion to strike his strikes. For the reasons stated below, we will affirm the judgment.
1. Suppression motion
On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence of his location obtained from installation of an electronic tracking device on the undercarriage of his truck.
A. The suppression hearing
The motion to suppress was based on evidence presented at a special suppression hearing, which we summarize.
On July 24, 1996, defendant was released from prison and placed on parole for three years, subject to the following condition among others. "You and your residence and any property under your control may be searched without a warrant by an agent of the Department of Corrections or any law enforcement officer."
While defendant was on parole, there was a construction site burglary near his Mountain View residence. Mountain View Police Detective Jeffrey Sato was involved in the investigation of this burglary. Defendant was identified as leaving the scene of the crime. Sato was aware that defendant had prior convictions of "thefts and drug related offenses." In 1997 defendant was arrested and prosecuted for this burglary. Ultimately a jury acquitted him. Subsequent to this acquittal defendant was released from custody on September 17, 1998.
After defendant's release from custody, Detective Sato noticed an increase in Mountain View construction site burglaries from two to five a month. Bolt cutters were taken in one theft and bolt cutters were used in later thefts. Six burglaries occurred within a mile of defendant's residence in Mountain View. Three occurred on the same street. Detective Sato acknowledged on cross-examination that one burglary on defendant's street occurred while defendant was still in custody. Thefts from PG & E yards occurred on October 27, 29, the weekend of October 30, and November 2, 1998. According to Detective Sato, the average burglar would not know what to do with specialized construction tools.
Mountain View police officers suspected defendant's involvement in the commercial burglaries. Detective Visalden asked for and obtained authorization from defendant's parole officer to conduct electronic surveillance of defendant. Detective Visalden did not testify at the suppression hearing and defendant's parole officer could not recall when he gave this authorization.
Around 11:00 p.m. on November 13, 1998, Detective Visalden and two other officers in plain clothes and an unmarked car went to defendant's residence at 1958 Rock Street in Mountain View. Los Altos Police Officer Mark Laranjo watched as Detective Visa
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 California DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|