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Name: People v. Maikhio
Case #: S180289
Opinion Date: 06/20/2011
Citation: 51 Cal.4th 1074
Summary

A game warden has the authority to make a vehicle stop to make an inspection where game may be stored and upon demand the driver has a duty to exhibit any game taken. There was reasonable suspicion to support a traffic stop when a game warden used a spotting telescope and observed what he believed was an illegal method of catching lobster from a pier. The fisherman was pulled over three blocks from the pier, denied that he had any lobsters in his vehicle, but a search produced the illegal catch. The Fish and Game Code provides that boats and other receptacles may be inspected and while vehicles are not expressly mentioned, they may be implied. (Fish & G. Code, sec. 1006.) Further, a game warden is authorized to demand an inspection of game by a person who has recently been fishing or hunting. (Fish & G. Code, sec. 2012.)