People v. M. L. B.

After a contested hearing appellant, age 14, was found to be a person subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and thereafter made a ward of that court, by reason of having committed a misdemeanor violation of section 69 of the Penal Code.

Appellant presented no evidence at the hearing and does not dispute the fact that he made threatening statements to police officers, but asserts on this appeal that the making of mere threats to an officer unaccompanied by force does not constitute a violation of the statute.

Appellant is wrong; the plain meaning of the statute proscribes attempts by threat to deter an executive officer from performing any duty.

*503 The construction of a statute and its applicability to a given situation are questions of law alone. (Estate of Madison (1945) 26 Cal.2d 453, 456-457 [ 159 P.2d 630 ]; Killian v. City and County of San Francisco (1978) 77 Cal.App.3d 1, 7 [ 143 Cal.Rptr. 430 ]; 6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, § 210, par. (1), p. 4201.) That threats alone may .constitute a violation of section 69 is compelled by “‘“the usual, ordinary import of the language”’” of the section. (See Killian v. City and County of San…