People v. Ronson CA5

FACTS

On a late afternoon in 2008, Lori Norman, a custodian at the M Street post office in Merced found a two-page magazine advertisement for Kimber guns in a netting cart. The ad was folded in half and was the only item in the cart. It had pictures of Kimber guns on both pages and numerous notations on one page including the following: “My Homework Stephanie[,]” “To Jacob Struble [hand drawn heart] Boo Gina R. See my Boo Boo[,]” “I’m going to buy a Kimber for Jacob Struble[,]” “I am a Kimber owner[,]” “My Best Weapon[,]” and “Gina Ronson Holds a Kimber for Jay Struble[.]”2 The ad was not in an envelope and it did not have a delivery address, a return address, or postage. Norman described the cart as a flat, open cart, four to five feet long that was used to stack trays of mail and that many people put outgoing mail on. The cart was sitting in a big open area on a dock outside the post office’s rear exit.

Unless otherwise indicated, all further statutory references are to the Penal Code. The ad had several other illegible and legible notations including the following: “you [unintelligible] me on my (R) knee[,]” “All D.A.s should have a Kimber[,]” “I have good…