People v. Johnson CA2/2

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

On August 6, 2015, defendant was an inmate at the Kern Valley State Prison. While defendant was being searched prior to entering the prison’s exercise yard, a guard found in defendant’s possession a pen-shaped sliver of melted plastic with one end “sharpened to a point.” The item was found inside a cloth sack secreted inside the innermost of two pairs of boxer shorts he was wearing, near defendant’s groin; the sack was attached to a string that poked out of the waistband of the shorts. Both the prison guard who discovered the item as well as the guard’s supervisor opined that the item was a “sharp instrument.” The item’s sharpened point was able to puncture a latex glove, which is thinner than human skin, after two stabs. Both the guard and his supervisor opined that an inmate would have no legitimate reason to possess such an item on the exercise yard.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

II. Procedural Background

The People charged defendant with possessing a “sharp instrument” while confined in a penal institution (§ 4502, subd. (a)). The People alleged that defendant’s…