The court reversed a conviction for violating Penal Code section 12020, subdivision (a)(1), possession of a flechette dart. It is illegal to possess a dart capable of being fired from a firearm “which measures approximately one inch in length, with tail fins which take up five-sixteenths of an inch of the body.” The court construed the language to mean that, although the total length of the dart may approximate one inch, there is an absolute minimum of five-sixteenths as to the fin length. The expert’s testimony that the fins were about 9/32 of an inch in length, possibly four-sixteenths or possibly five-sixteenths, was insufficient as a matter of law to prove a violation of section 12020.
Case Summaries