Harbor City, Possession of a Firearm by a Felon (PC 29800)

On an April 2024 evening, our 23-year old client and several of his friends from the Wilmington area were cruising Anaheim Boulevard, decked out in East Wilmas red.  Our client, the driver of the car (his mom’s), was wearing a red baseball cap.

The dividing line between East Wilmas and West Wilmas turf has traditionally been Avalon Boulevard and our client was east of Avalon, safely in his gang’s territory.

Our client was in possession of a .45 caliber handgun, which was loaded with hollow-tip bullets.  Our client had bought it from a friend.  Our client was not supposed to own or possess a gun because he was a convicted felon, having been convicted of possession of a loaded firearm (Penal Code § 25850) in public four years earlier.  

Our client’s front seat passenger was also armed with a loaded firearm.

Four officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, gang suppression unit, were riding in an unmarked car, but they were in complete uniform.  They were traveling westbound on Anaheim and spotted our client’s car waiting at a traffic light, waiting to cross Anaheim.  Our client was waiting for the light to turn green and was positioned with his front tires well into the crosswalk, which was illegal.  

Officers recognized our client’s car and pulled behind our client, but as they were doing so, the traffic light turned from red to green and our client moved forward to cross Anaheim.  

Seeing that our client’s license plate also showed expired registration (ironically, our client’s mm had paid the registration, but not put the new sticker on the car), the police turned on their flashing lights and placed a pink and blue flashing light in the front windshield area.

Instead of pulling over, our client tried to evade the police at high speed, but eventually came to a stop when he tried to drive onto railroad tracks nearby and almost got stuck.  The chase lasted less than a minute.  The police car’s video of the chase and our client coming to a stop on the train tracks was not something we wanted a jury to ever see.

Police searched our client’s car and found his loaded pistol in the driver’s side door pocket.  They also found the front seat passenger’s gun under the front passenger seat. 

Bail for our client was set at $40,000 for his violation of Penal Code § 29800(a)(1), possession of a firearm by a felon, a felony.  Our client was later also charged with violating Penal Code § 30305(a)(1), illegal possession of ammunition by a felon.  Our client’s family did not post bail for him.

The Long Beach District Attorney assigned to the case, who had been recently elected to a judge position, believed our client needed to serve 16 months in state prison.  She pointed out our client’s gang ties and his earlier illegal possession of a loaded firearm case, overlooking that our client had successfully completed probation.

Greg, however, explained to her that in a recent United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (Pasadena) ruling, United States v Steven Duarte, 28 U.S.C. § 922(g)), the federal law prohibiting a felon from being in possession of a firearm, was ruled unconstitutional.  This was only days before the client’s arraignment.

The District Attorney had not read the case and was not even aware of such a watershed ruling.

Greg then prepared a motion to dismiss the California Penal Code § 29800(a)(1) charge, as well as the § 30305(a)(1) charge, in light of Duarte, which was good law at the time.  It interpreted 922(g) in light of New York Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen (2022) 597 U.S. 1.

However, after Greg filed the motion to dismiss, the Ninth Circuit agreed to en banc review of the ruling, meaning the prior ruling could not be relied upon.

Greg then had to withdraw the motion.

Eventually, however, Greg did resolve the case for 3 years of formal probation and 20 days of Cal-Trans, which was far better than what the first offer on the case was and the client was happy with this.