C.A. 1st;
A147603

The First Appellate District affirmed a judgment of conviction. The court held that he circumstances of the defendant's refusal to leave a restaurant were sufficient to establish probable cause to arrest him for interfering with the operation of a business.

A police officer responded to a report of a man refusing to leave a restaurant. Upon arriving, he was informed that the man had been at the 24-hour restaurant for eight hours, despite restaurant staff repeatedly asking him to leave. The officer recognized the man as someone he had previously seen loiter outside the restaurant. The officer eventually persuaded the man to leave. The restaurant manager then told the officer she wanted the man arrested. The man was arrested and booked. a subsequent inventory search of the man's duffle bag revealed a revolver, ammunition, and three grams of methamphetamine. The man, Curtis Turner, was charged with multiple crimes based on his possession of these items. His motion to suppress was denied. He was convicted and placed on probation.