P. v. Chavez CA3 filed 3/4/13 A

State: California

Court: California Eastern District Court

Docket No: C071797

Case Date: 03/04/2013

Plaintiff: P.

Defendant: Chavez CA3 filed 3/4/13 Case Details

Preview:Filed 3/4/13 P. v. Chavez CA3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Siskiyou)

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. MARTIN DEANTES CHAVEZ, Defendant and Appellant.

C071797 (Super. Ct. No. 12-144)

This case comes to us pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436. Having reviewed the record as required by Wende, we affirm the judgment. We provide the following brief description of the facts and procedural history of the case. (See People v. Kelly (2006) 40 Cal.4th 106, 110, 124.) In January 2012, a Siskiyou County task force was conducting a criminal interdiction operation in front of a fast food restaurant. Defendant Martin Deantes Chavez was a passenger on a bus from Los Angeles that stopped at the restaurant. A narcotic trained and certified canine inspected the luggage under the bays in the bus and alerted to the presence of a narcotic odor from a red and black suitcase. The officers attempted to find the owner of that suitcase. Officer Shannon noticed one of the 1

passengers, defendant, was behaving suspiciously by not returning directly to the bus. Upon being asked, defendant denied having any bags on the bus. Eventually, defendant admitted that the bag belonged to him and consented to a search of the bag. Inside the suitcase, amidst defendant's clothes, were numerous bundles wrapped in duct tape and later determined to be 11.8 pounds of methamphetamine. Defendant claimed he did not pack the bag. He said he had met a man named Julio in Los Angeles, who offered him $200 for taking a suitcase with him to Portland. Defendant gave Julio his clothes and Julio packed the suitcase and returned it to defendant. Julio paid defendant's fare to Portland, told defendant he would be met in Portland, and implicitly threatened defendant's family. Defendant was charged with transportation of methamphetamine for sale from a non-contiguous county (Health & Saf. Code,

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