California v. Seo
Annotate this CaseDefendant Sung Jue Seo was convicted by jury of misdemeanor carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and felony possessing counterfeiting equipment. Imposition of sentence was suspended, and defendant was placed on formal probation for three years with the term, among others, that he serve 240 days in county jail. Defendant appealed the possession charge, arguing the basis for the charge was the possession of “ordinary office supplies,” he contends the jury should have been instructed that the offense required possession of counterfeiting materials with a “fraudulent intent” rather than a “criminal intent.” He claimed the trial court’s failure to properly instruct the jury on the mens rea element of the offense was prejudicial error. In the alternative, he argued that if the jury was correctly instructed, the offense required proof of “criminal intent” then the statute was unconstitutionally vague. The Court of Appeal found that the trial court's instruction was based on language used in a 154-year old California Supreme Court case, California v. White, 34 Cal. 183 (1867). "Thus, we cannot say the instruction was legally erroneous, but it surely lacked clarity." The Court published its decision in this case to offer a suggestion on how a jury should have been instructed on the elements of a Penal Code section 480(a) offense. Though offering a clearer jury instruction, the Court rejected defendant's contention that the trial court's instruction constituted prejudicial error. "If the lack of clarity constituted error, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt." The Court similarly rejected defendant's assertion that section 480(a) was unconstitutionally vague.
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