Saleem

[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS OPINION IS DEPUBLISHED UPON GRANTING OF PETITION FOR REVIEW. THE OPINION APPEARS BELOW WITH A GRAY BACKGROUND.] [EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 256 [EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 257 [EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 258 OPINION Defendant and appellant, Ethan Saleem, appeals the judgment entered following his conviction for possession of body armor by a person previously convicted of a violent felony, with prior serious felony and prior prison term findings (Pen. Code, §§ 12370 , 667 , subds. (b)-(i), 667.5). 1 He was sentenced to state prison for a term of eight years. We reverse Saleem's conviction. 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. BACKGROUND Viewed in accordance with the usual rule of appellate…

In November 1994, San Francisco Police Officer James Guelff was shot and killed by a heavily armed carjacking suspect who was wearing body armor. Less than three years later, in February 1997, two heavily armed bank robbers protected by body armor held off police after robbing a North Hollywood bank. During the ensuing gun battle, 11 police officers and six civilians were wounded. In response to these and other troubling incidents, in 1998 the Legislature enacted Penal Code section 12370 , which, subject to exceptions not relevant here, prohibits persons who have been convicted certain violent felonies from purchasing, owning, or possessing "body armor." Penal Code section 12370 defines "body armor" by reference to title 11, section 942, subdivision (e), of the California Code of Regulations, which states in pertinent part: "`Body armor' is popularly called a `bulletproof vest'. For purposes of these regulations, `body armor' means those parts of a complete armor that provide ballistic resistance to the penetration of the test ammunition for which a complete armor is certified." In my view, the first sentence of the statutory definition defines body armor sufficiently to give…

Defendant and appellant, Ethan Saleem, appeals the judgment entered following his conviction for possession of body armor by a person previously convicted of a violent felony, with prior serious felony and prior prison term findings (Pen. Code, §§ 12370, 667, subds. (b)-(i), 667.5). [1] He was sentenced to state prison for a term of eight years.

We reverse Saleem's conviction. 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.

Viewed in accordance with the usual rule of appellate review ( People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206 [ 26 Cal.Rptr.2d 23 , 864 P.2d 103 ]), the evidence established the following.

On January 23, 2007, about 3:00 a.m., Los Angeles Police Officer Jeffrey Rivera and his partner were on patrol in Wilmington. Rivera was in the passenger seat of their marked patrol car. He saw an approaching vehicle make a quick right turn and pull off to the side of the road. Because this seemed suspicious, the officers circled the block and came to a stop next to a Honda Element. The Honda's engine was running and it was parked…