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Name: People v. Gastello
Case #: F050325
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 5 DCA
Opinion Date: 04/13/2007
Subsequent History: Review granted 6/13/07: S153170
Summary

A defendant who had drugs in his pocket when booked for another offense was not guilty of voluntarily bringing drugs into the jail. Appellant was arrested for being under the influence, and was brought into jail in custody, in handcuffs. When he was booked into the jail, officers found methamphetamine in his pocket. He was convicted of several offenses, including bringing drugs into a jail. The appellate court reversed that count, concluding that appellant did not engage in the voluntary act of bringing the drugs into the jail. The offense requires an affirmative act of bringing drugs into the jail. Here, appellant possessed the drugs, but he did nothing but submit to the lawful authority of the police when he was arrested. He therefore did not bring drugs into the jail, and there was insufficient evidence to support this conviction.