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Name: People v. Hopkins
Case #: E045671
Opinion Date: 02/20/2009
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 4 DCA
Division: 2
Citation: 171 Cal.App.4th 305
Summary

A trial court order denying return of property is not appealable under Penal Code section 1237 because such an order is not listed among the matters for which an appeal is authorized under the statute. Appellant was charged with transportation and possession of more than an ounce of marijuana but the charges were subsequently dismissed. Appellant’s subsequent non-statutory motion for return of property was denied and appellant filed an appeal pursuant to Penal Code section 1237. The appellate court ruled that the proper avenue for redress was via a petition for writ of mandate or a civil action and dismissed the appeal. As an aside, the court noted that at the same time appellant filed the appeal, he filed a writ and that a peremptory writ for return of property was issued but that at the hearing on appellant’s original motion, the trial court stated the property had been destroyed so the issue may ultimately have been moot.