Opinion
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
San Mateo County Super. Ct. No. SC062181
Lambden, J.
Appellant Rogelio Sanchez appeals from his conviction and sentence following a plea of no contest, and from the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. His counsel raises no issues and asks this court for an independent review of the record as required by People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436. Counsel has also advised appellant of his right to file a supplemental brief, which appellant has not done.
BACKGROUND
On August 14th, 2006, around 1:50 am, appellant was arrested by police officers in East Palo Alto. Appellant had been an occupant of a red pick-up truck which had reportedly crashed into a parked BMW several times over the course of an evening. Police Officer Fung observed a red pick-up truck matching the description of the truck involved in striking the BMW, followed it, and moments later, pulled up behind it. The truck had been parked on the wrong side of the road.
Fung observed two individuals standing on the sidewalk by the truck. When Fung requested the individuals stop so that he could talk to them, they began walking away from him, but in different directions. Fung left his car and followed the appellant. Fung called to appellant to stop, but appellant continued to walk away. When Fung was within 15 feet of appellant, he saw appellant toss something away over a nearby fence. Appellant then turned around and heeded Fung’s request to stop.
Appellant returned with Fung to the police car and, when requested to do so, sat down on the sidewalk. After Police Officers Simpson and Kalb arrived as back-up, Officer Fung followed and detained the other individual. After returning with the other suspect to the area where the pick-up truck and police vehicle were parked, Fung returned to where he had seen appellant throw something over the fence and recovered a black plastic baggie filled with twelve bindles of a white powder, subsequently tested and found to be cocaine. Approximately 20 to 25 minutes passed between the time that Fung saw appellant throw something over the fence, and when he returned and found the baggie. No one else was observed in the vicinity of the spot where the bag was found. Fung returned to the area where the vehicles were located and arrested appellant.
Following a preliminary hearing on September 28, 2006, appellant was held to answer one charge of possessing a controlled substance for sale in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11351. An amended information was filed on October 10, 2006, charging appellant with the above crime and alleging six prior convictions under Penal Code sections 1203.07, subdivision (a)(11) and 11370.2, subdivision (a).
Appellant moved to set aside the Information and to suppress the evidence pursuant to Penal Code sections 995 and 1538.5. Both motions were denied by the trial court on January 25, 2007. The trial court found that it was reasonable to infer that appellant had dropped the baggie containing the narcotics over the fence.
Immediately after the denial of the motions, appellant pled no contest to the single count of possessing a controlled substance for sale in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11351 and admitted five of the prior convictions. Pursuant to a plea agreement, appellant was sentenced to the aggravated term of four years, plus an additional term of three years based upon the prior convictions.
DISCUSSION
Our independent review of the record reveals no arguable issues. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.
We concur: Kline, P.J., Richman, J.