People v. Hicks CA6

I. BACKGROUND

A. THE CHARGED OFFENSE

Defendant was charged with possession of a weapon by a prisoner. (§ 4502, subd. (a)). At the preliminary hearing, a Salinas Valley State Prison correctional officer testified that defendant, an inmate, possessed a self-manufactured weapon that could be used for defensive or offensive slashing purposes. On January 1, 2013, the officer was patting down defendant, who was reentering a building from the prison yard. Defendant’s right hand was cupped during the pat down, and the officer noticed some 1 Statutory references are to the Penal Code. sort of razor tucked into the palm of that hand. The officer grabbed defendant’s wrist and yelled “weapon.” Defendant resisted by trying to step away, and another correctional officer assisted in restraining him. Once defendant was restrained, the testifying officer located the weapon on the ground nearby. A photograph of the weapon was admitted into evidence. The weapon was an altered single-edged prison-issued razor blade supported by foil tape and was considered to be contraband.

B. THE “STRIKE” OFFENSES

The information contained a special allegation that defendant had been convicted of five…