By Edward Garcia
Officer testimony resumed this Monday afternoon in the trial of defendants Joshua Armond Cadenaz-Lopez and Ricky Gomez Hernandez. These two co-defendants are charged with 2nd degree robbery and numerous enhancements related to firearms and gang activity.
The People continued the examination of a Yolo Narcotic Enforcement Team (YONET) officer, who was giving testimony related to his experience with marijuana sales.
Deputy District Attorney Kyle Hasapes began by asking the officer for clarification on numerous slang terms used in reference to marijuana. The YONET officer proceeded to describe the following terms: zip, trimming, eighth, front, and flip.
In addition, he explained in what amounts marijuana is most commonly sold. The amounts tend to be the following: pound, ounce, quarter pound, eighth, and gram.
For reference, the officer stated a gram would be approximately the amount inside a sugar packet, an eighth would be 3.5 grams. A pound of marijuana is exactly 453.59 grams.
After clarifying these fundamentals, Mr. Hasapes wondered if individuals selling marijuana were typically found carrying weapons.
“Yes,” the YONET officer said. Based on his experience, individuals who sell marijuana carry weapons so they don’t get robbed. Most of the time it’s “strictly for protection.”
Moving toward the actual selling of marijuana, the People asked the officer to explain what type of things would help him determine whether marijuana sales were occurring. His testimony highlighted certain items which included the quantity of marijuana, scales, money, packaging materials, weapons, and multiple cell phones.
They’re not all needed to determine that the marijuana is used for sales. “Those are just indicators,” he stated. But if you are trying to differentiate between marijuana for possession or marijuana for sales, then you would use those indicators as a guide.
Proceeding with his direct, Mr. Hasapes switched focus to a series of text messages from one of the defendant’s phone records. These included numerous conversations, with the first beginning on 
October 2, 2016.
The People asked the YONET officer to read the messages and determine if any of the contents were related to marijuana or the selling of marijuana. Again, based on his experience, he noted numerous references to the selling, negotiating, and purchasing of marijuana. The words he described for the court were also dispersed throughout the messages.
This led Mr. Hasapes to ask about the pricing of marijuana.
The officer stated there can be “common prices but there are variables.” For example, the relationship a seller has with his source can influence the price of marijuana dramatically.
For reference, he stated that a good price for a pound would be around $1,500, while a quarter of a pound sells between $400 and $500.
The “Costco effect,” brought up by Mr. Hasapes, also appears to be very much a thing. “You’re going to get a better deal the more you buy at one time,” the officer asserted.
Deputy District Attorney Hasapes finished his direct with a hypothetical.
To begin, he told his witness to imagine two vehicles—one with three individuals and the second with one individual. The two vehicles pull into a parking garage. The three individuals get out of their car, with a package, and get into the second car. Now let us say the package was found to contain 539 grams of marijuana. In addition, the second car was found to have two scales, two loaded firearms, and a replica firearm. Lastly, two individuals in the car have text messages about marijuana sales in their cell phones.
What would be the purpose of the marijuana? Mr. Hasapes asked.
Based on his training and experience, the YONET officer stated that the marijuana looks to be “possessed for purpose of sales.”
He explained this conclusion was based on the amount of marijuana, the exchange between vehicles, and numerous other factors.
Even if someone stated they bought the marijuana in bulk to save money, it would take a significant amount of time to smoke all of it. If you smoke four grams a day, it would take you 140 days to get through all the marijuana, the officer stated. If you smoke a little more conservatively—two grams a day—it would take you over 200 days to finish it all.
Following this description, Deputy Public Defender Lisa Lance began her cross-examination. She focused primarily on the text messages.
Under questioning, the officer stated he had no idea to whom the messages were attributed, and also didn’t know if the phone was working or not. He testified to seeing the messages around three weeks prior, but stated he only looked at a select few.
The YONET officer placed the date range of the messages from April 2016 to October 2016.
Before the defense could get any further, court was adjourned.
The trial is set to reconvene on October 31 at 9 a.m. in Department 14.
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