California v. Gjersvold
Annotate this CaseIn 2013, the Department of Consumer Affairs revoked defendant’s private investigator license. A month later, defendant presented his revoked license and his driver’s license to enter the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility. Having held himself out as a private investigator, defendant interviewed inmate Jeffrey Merrill. Defendant was taken to the visiting area and interviewed Merrill for approximately 30 minutes. Defendant did not ask for permission to go onto the grounds of LSCF before he entered. Defendant also failed to disclose that he was an ex-convict. Deputy Collins was not aware of defendant’s ex-convict status before checking defendant in. A deputy at the facility testified that, had he known defendant was an ex-convict, he would have notified one of his superiors at the jail (at the LSCF Visiting Center entrance, a notice is posted that states that persons convicted of a felony are not authorized to visit without approval). The State charged defendant with unauthorized entry onto prison grounds by an ex-convict. A jury found defendant guilty as charged. Thereafter, defendant admitted the truth of the prior prison term allegation. Defendant was granted defendant five years' probation on the condition that he serve 365 days in custody. Defendant appealed the sentence, arguing the trial court improperly instructed the jury that a jail officer must give informed consent for an ex-convict’s entry upon jail grounds to be authorized. Finding no reversible error, the Court of Appeal affirmed.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.