People v. O'Sullivan

In People v. O'Sullivan (1990) 217 Cal. App. 3d 237, defendant appealed from her conviction of methamphetamine in a county jail (Pen. Code, 4573.6). Deputy Sheriffs Felix and Elliott were working in the receiving area of the women's division of the county jail in San Bruno. Appellant arrived handcuffed at the San Bruno facility and she was holding her possessions in a plastic bag. While processing defendant into the jail, Deputy Elliott asked defendant if the property in the bag was hers and she said it was. Deputy Elliott then searched the property while Deputy Felix searched her person. In the bottom of a deodorant container, Elliott found two bags of white powder. Elliott turned to Felix and said, "I believe I have something here." (People v. O'Sullivan, supra, at p. 240.) Defendant turned around, looked toward Elliott and the table where the powder was exposed, and said, "oh, oh." (Ibid.) The First District Court of Appeal held the trial court properly admitted defendant's spontaneous statement because there was no interrogation or its equivalent. The appellate court concluded there was no basis for finding that Deputy Elliott should have known her quick, informative remark to a colleague--made contemporaneously with her discovery--was likely to elicit an incriminating response.