P v. KING
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
)
v. )
Defendant and Appellant. ) Super. Ct. No. 186344
__________ )
Subdivision (a)(1) of Penal Code section 12020 (section 12020(a)(1)),[1] prohibits the possession of a variety of weapons. Does it require a culpable mental state, or is it a â€
| Description | Penal Code Sec. 12020(a)(1), which prohibits the possession of a variety of weapons, requires a culpable mental state, and prosecution must prove the possessor's knowledge of the weapon's illegal characteristics. When prohibited weapon is a short-barreled rifle, prosecution need only establish the defendant's knowledge of the shortness of the rifle, not its precise dimensions. Trial court's failure to instruct on knowledge did not require reversal of defendant's conviction for illegally possessing a rifle that was modified so that the barrel was less than the legally allowed 26 inches in overall length where defendant admitted that he had seen the gun in the drawer of a workbench and had "probably picked it up to look at it," so that he necessarily saw that the stock had been crudely sawn off and knew that the gun was too short to meet legal requirements. |
| Rating |
Copyright © 2024 Result Oriented Marketing, Inc.
