Tapia

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Jesus Manuel Tapia pointed a firearm at another motorist during a traffic dispute. When officers came to Tapia’s residence the next day to investigate, they observed Tapia, who was standing on the sidewalk in front of his residence, remove a loaded handgun from his pocket and place it inside a vehicle parked in the driveway. The sidewalk where Tapia had been standing was within 1,000 feet of a high school. Tapia was convicted of possession of a firearm in a school zone, in violation of Penal Code section 626.9, and assault with a firearm. At trial, he sought to present, as a defense to the section 626.9 charge, evidence that the sidewalk where he had been standing was on private property, subject to an easement of way granted to a public entity. In the published portion of this opinion, we conclude a sidewalk on an easement of way granted to a public entity does not qualify as private property within the meaning of section 626.9, subdivision (c)(1). In the unpublished portion of this opinion, we reject Tapia’s contention that the trial court improperly denied Pitchess discovery and limited cross-examination of a witness. We…