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C.A. Says Statute Barring Inmate’s Possession Of ‘Sharp Instrument’ Is Constitutional
Opinion Says Law Is Not Impermissibly Vague
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A statute that prohibits a prison inmate from possessing any “sharp instrument” is not void for vagueness, Div. Six of this district’s Court of Appeal held yesterday.
“A prisoner who has a 14-inch by 1-inch hard non-flexible piece of plastic, sharpened to a point, is a danger to other prisoners and prison officials,” Justice Kenneth Yegan wrote. “This is a lethal weapon.”
The opinion affirms the conviction of David Valle pursuant to Penal Code §4502. As a inmate third-strike offender, he was sentenced by San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Catherine J. Swysen to a term of 25 years to life.
To comport with due process, Yegan said, a penal statute “must inform a person of ordinary intelligence what conduct is permitted and what conduct is prohibited.” The object possessed by Valle, he declared is, by its nature, “a sharp instrument proscribed by section 4502” and that section “is not facially invalid.”
He continued:
“For similar reasons, we conclude the statute is not unconstitutional as applied in this case. Appellant had hidden in his mattress a 14-inch long piece of hard, inflexible plastic that had been sharpened to a point and resembled a knife or a short spear. He also had folded sheet metal and fragments of sharpened metal concealed in his cell. Any reasonable person, including appellant, would understand that he or she is not permitted to possess such items. The fact that appellant concealed these objects in his cell demonstrates his understanding that they were prohibited….The statute is not unconstitutionally vague as applied to appellant’s conduct.”
The case is People v. Valle, B338909.
Div. Six on July 22, 2015, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed the convictions of Valle, in the courtroom of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Hayden Zacky, for conspiracy to commit murder, attempted premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping for robbery, and other offenses. He was sentenced to various prison terms including life without possibility of parole.
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