Long Beach, Possession of Ghost Gun, Reduced to Misdemeanor

Our client, when age 27, was stopped by the Los Angeles Police Department, Harbor Division, in San Pedro after police observed a passenger in his car drinking a beer and our client allegedly “threw gang signs” out the window at a driver of another car.  

Police had first observed our client along Pacific Avenue, near the intersection of Pacific Avenue and 13th Street.  Our client was driving a white BMV with no front license plate (a violation of Vehicle Code § 5200).  He had three passengers.  Police described the car as having “very heavy” window tint (a violation of Vehicle Code § 26708).  

The police then followed our client’s car twelve blocks while conducting a warrants check on the registered owner based on the rear license plate.  Our client then turned onto Gaffey Street, heading north towards the Harbor Freeway.

Police then pulled over our client, perhaps to prevent difficulty in a traffic stop along the freeway.  The traffic stop took place on Gaffey, near First Street, at about 11:00 p.m.  It was a Friday night.  They explained they stopped the car because they allegedly saw our client “throwing gang signs” and saw his passenger was drinking beer in the front passenger seat (which we think may have been difficult to see if the window tint was as dark as claimed).

Police pulled over our client and immediately asked him about a baseball cap he was wearing that had the letter “B” on it.  Police accused our client of being affiliated with the Bastard Family gang.  Our client had no idea what the police were talking about and explained the cap was a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball cap his friend had sold him.

After noticing our client’s passenger with a beer they asked to conduct a “further search for contraband.”  The beer was not “contraband,” so such a search for “further contraband” seemed unjustified.  Nonetheless, our client stepped out of the car.  Within seconds, police found his unregistered and loaded “ghost gun” under the front driver’s seat and arrested our client for violation of Penal Code § 25400(a)(1), unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm within a vehicle.   

Our client was then immediately arrested and taken to the Harbor Division station of the Los Angeles Police Department just about a mile away.

A charge of violating § 25400(a)(1) is a “wobbler,” meaning it can be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor.  If one is convicted of this charge as a felony, the punishment is “16/2/3,” meaning a minimum of sixteen months in state prison (to be served in the county jail unless one is a registered sex offender), a  middle term of two years in state prison (or county jail) or a high term of three years in state prison.  If convicted of this crime as a misdemeanor, it was punishable by up to one year in county jail.

Our client was eventually released a few hours later after being booked and held while police ran a warrants check for him. 

 

Once the client was released, he called Greg Hill & Associates and spoke with Greg.  He explained what had happened and wanted to know how his case would be handled.  The client has no prior criminal history except for a DUI from about four years ago.  He was employed as a window glazer with a union.

Greg explained how his case would be handled and discussed the (then-recent in July, 2024) published decision in USA v. Steven Duarte by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  The ruling was up for en banc review, which could take a year.

However, Greg explained that the Duarte ruling suggested a charge of violating Penal Code § 25400(a)(1) was improper because Duarte held that a 28 U.S.C. § 922(g) was unconstitutional in light of New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022) 597 U.S. 1, 142 S. Ct. 2111, 213 L. Ed 2d 387.  However, a ruling from the Ninth Circuit en banc was needed to clarify if Duarte would be controlling.

Greg otherwise explained that he would push to have the client’s case resolved as a misdemeanor with some form of DA diversion.

Our client was very happy with this resolution, as he was fearful of losing his solid union job with any conviction and this resolution avoided such a problem.