Need help with San Bernardino County knife laws ASAP

[C Bryant]

A very good friend of my (like a brother to me) was arrested last night walking home from a bar around midnight. He had a few drinks so he was walking home which was only a couple of miles away.

He was stopped by Ontario PD while walking home. Long story short. He was not sloppy drunk and sidestepping all over the place, he was just walking home after a few drinks. He was stopped and searched. They nailed him for public intoxication and felony weapons charge for having a "dirk or dagger". He was taken to Ontario PD and put in a holding cell, then to San Bernardino County and was held overnight.

He was carrying a CRKT folding pocket knife which was clipped to his pocket via the pocket clip.

Anybody have any SB county knife law specifics? Right or wrong I know officer's around here consider a knife concealed even if it is clipped to your pocket, but being charged with a felony weapons under "dirk or dagger" does not seem right.

Any information regarding this would be extremely appreciated.

And unrelated to the weapons charge, but interesting is that they put on the report he was a danger to himself and others due to his intoxication. They did not even test him. They didn't give his driver's licence back to him.

He has never been arrested before, with a clean record.

 

[koyote]

As with most "bad" police involvements, there's a bunch of distracting issues in this- the license, the reason (if any) for the stop, the "danger to himself or others" bit. Arguing those at this juncture is probably worse than pointless.

The felony charge itself seems, ont he face of it, bogus. The problem is finding someone in the legal system who knows anything about CA knife laws!

I did a quick search and cannot find anything in san bernadino or ontario mathcing the "LA style" laws regarding open display, blade length limits, or such.

 

[ronsec]

Your friend needs a good lawyer ASAP. Any advice given here, no matter how well intentioned or professional, isn't going to help him at this stage. He needs an attorney right now, right there. Good luck.

 

[C Bryant]

Your friend needs a good lawyer ASAP. Any advice given here, no matter how well intentioned or professional, isn't going to help him at this stage. He needs an attorney right now, right there. Good luck.

Indeed yes. I was just using this forum as a direction to find info. Never hurts to search around.

Update: After another phone call with my buddy, it seems his is a bit more in the wrong that I originally thought.

He had the knife locked OPEN in his pocket because he was passing through a bad neighborhood. Not the best idea... but I understand his thinking.

 

[Jesse B.]

For what it's worth: start with Title 9 of the Municipal Code of San Bernadino (.pdf -- page 28.)
Clearly there's more to this story, however.

 

[MORIMOTOM]

A very good friend of my (like a brother to me) was arrested last night walking home from a bar around midnight. He had a few drinks so he was walking home which was only a couple of miles away.

He was stopped by Ontario PD while walking home. Long story short. He was not sloppy drunk and sidestepping all over the place, he was just walking home after a few drinks. He was stopped and searched. They nailed him for public intoxication and felony weapons charge for having a "dirk or dagger". He was taken to Ontario PD and put in a holding cell, then to San Bernardino County and was held overnight.

He was carrying a CRKT folding pocket knife which was clipped to his pocket via the pocket clip.

Anybody have any SB county knife law specifics? Right or wrong I know officer's around here consider a knife concealed even if it is clipped to your pocket, but being charged with a felony weapons under "dirk or dagger" does not seem right.

Any information regarding this would be extremely appreciated.

And unrelated to the weapons charge, but interesting is that they put on the report he was a danger to himself and others due to his intoxication. They did not even test him. They didn't give his driver's licence back to him.

He has never been arrested before, with a clean record.

were you with him at the time of his arrest?

the concealed dirk/dagger charge sounds as though it is a penal code violation, not one of city/county code or ordinance.