Pellecer

Defendant Kevin Alejandro Pellecer appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial in which he was convicted of carrying a concealed dirk or dagger on his person in violation of Penal Code former section 12020, subdivision (a)(4). Defendant contends that his conviction is not supported by substantial evidence because the knives he possessed were inside of his backpack, and he was thus not carrying them on his person. He raises related contentions of misinstruction of the jury and vagueness of the statute. We agree that defendant did not violate the statute because the knives in his backpack were not carried on his person. Accordingly, we reverse defendant’s conviction.

BACKGROUND

At 2:30 a.m. on September 5, 2011, Los Angeles Police Department Officers Reynaldo Masangkay and Carlos Landivar responded to a call about a burglary suspect at Bamsdall Art Park in Los Angeles. They found defendant crouching in a comer of an enclosed patio in the park. Defendant was leaning on a closed backpack. In response to the officers’ orders, defendant approached them. The record does not indicate whether defendant took the backpack with him while complying with the officers’…