Victory Is Mine Shaun Martin

Never skip footnotes.  There’s often some good stuff in there.

So, for example, the California Supreme Court’s decision today in People v. King might at first appear to be a sleepy matter in which the Court merely reinstates a conviction for having a rifle under 26 inches in length that had previously been reversed by the Court of Appeal.  (Mind you, the soporific nature of the opinion doesn’t stop me from writing 750+ words about it, which — as an alternative to Nyquil — you can read here if you’d like.)  Another victory for the People of California.  Apparently you can’t have a rifle in California that’s only two feet long.  One more criminal off the street.  Zzzzzzz.

Except check out footnote two.  Which notes that, yeah, after five years of litigation, including multiple rounds in the appellate courts, the defendant’s conviction for possessing an illegal rifle eventually gets affirmed.  But listen to what else transpired below:  “Defendant was charged in a 39-count information with kidnapping, drugging, robbing, threatening, and repeatedly sexually assaulting a prostitute, crimes that collectively carried a maximum sentence of over 500 years in prison.  The jury acquitted defendant on 29 counts.  It deadlocked on six counts, with either 10 or 11 votes for acquittal on each count.”  So, sure, defendant ultimately gets locked up on a weapons charge.  But hardly the win for the prosecution that one might otherwise think upon merely reading the California Supreme Court’s opinion.