Defendant’s conviction for possession of body armor by a person previously convicted of a violent felony, with prior serious felony and prior prison term findings, is reversed where: 1) Penal Code section 12370 must be construed to contain a knowledge element and the prosecution had to prove that defendant knew, or reasonably should have known, the body vest in his possession had characteristics making it illegal under section 12370; and 2) section 12370 is unconstitutionally void for vagueness because it does not provide fair notice of which protective body vests constitute the body armor made illegal by the statute.
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Appellate Information
Filed December 17, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Klein
CounselFor Appellant: Gerald Peters
For Appellee: Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters and Roberta L. Davis, Deputy Attorneys General
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