Gaitan

After defendant waived his right to a jury trial, the trial court found him guilty of possessing a deadly weapon, to wit, metal knuckles (Pen. Code, § 12020, subd. (a)(1)). 1 As a result, defendant was sentenced to the midterm of two years in state prison. On appeal, defendant contends his conviction should be reversed because the trial court erroneously applied a strict liability standard and improperly ignored his lack of criminal intent in finding him guilty of possessing a deadly weapon. In the alternative, defendant contends his conviction should be reversed because there was insufficient evidence to show that his possession of the item was for improper use as a weapon. We find no error and will affirm the judgment.

I

Factual Background

On March 30, 2000, about 3:38 p.m., Officer Dave Rowe, an Ontario police officer assigned to the gang unit, made a vehicle stop during which he observed defendant wearing yellow metal knuckles. The metal knuckles were approximately two and a half inches long by half an inch wide and covered the middle finger, ring finger, and little finger of defendant’s right hand.

Officer Rowe, who had seen metal knuckles in excess of 25 times…