People v. Urrutiaguillen CA4/3

── People v. Urrutiaguillen CA4/3 ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: April 27, 2026 Category: General Filed 4/27/26 P. v. Urrutiaguillen CA4/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, G064569 v. (Super. Ct. No. 23HF0672) FERNANDO URRUTIAGUILLEN, OPINION Defendant and Appellant. Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Michael J. Cassidy, Judge. Affirmed. Jo Pastore, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Arlene A. Sevidal, Assistant Attorney General, Collette C. Cavalier and Emily Reeves, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * * Defendant Fernando Urrutiaguillen appeals the trial court’s judgment, specifically challenging denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained during a search of his vehicle in the course of a traffic stop. The trial court found there was reasonable suspicion warranting further investigation, the scope of the search did not exceed the verbal and written consent given by Urrutiaguillen, and there was probable cause for the search. We find there is substantial evidence to support the trial court’s determinations and therefore affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY A. The Traffic Stop On April 18, 2023, Officer Justin Lopez was on duty, in uniform, driving his marked patrol car northbound on the I-5 freeway in Irvine, California, with his K-9, Astro. He initiated a traffic stop of a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Urrutiaguillen because he observed it traveling about 70 miles per hour and following the truck in front of it too closely. Urrutiaguillen followed Lopez’s instructions in stopping the vehicle. Lopez approached the Jeep on the passenger side and immediately smelled a strong odor of gasoline. He began the encounter by telling Urrutiaguillen the reason for the stop. Urrutiaguillen provided his Arizona driver’s license and registration but no proof of insurance. Lopez gave the license and registration to Officer Gabriel Blanco, a backup officer assisting him that day; Blanco ran a check to see if the license was valid and for outstanding warrants. Those checks came back clear. The process took approximately three minutes. 2  While Blanco was checking the documents, Lopez had conversations with both Urrutiaguillen and his wife. During those conversations, Lopez noted Urrutiaguillen was nervous and was “gripping the steering wheel with both hands very tightly,” hanging onto it as if he “didn’t want to let go.” Lopez asked Urrutiaguillen why he was nervous. Urrutiaguillen responded, “he was nervous because he didn’t have insurance.” Urrutiaguillen’s wife, sitting in the passenger seat, stated that he had recently been terminated from his job in corrections. There were three children in the back seat. During his initial conversation, Lopez did not ask any questions about the vehicle smelling like gasoline. He asked where they were coming from and where they were going. Urrutiaguillen said they were traveling from Tecate, Mexico to his aunt’s house in Los Angeles, expecting to return to Mexico the next day.