Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I resided in student house at csu Monterrey Bay, Ca. (not a dorm room, not on main campus) I was storing my firearms in this home(my home), when it was entered by maintenance(they were scheduled to come but no one was home) the weapons were found. I was not arrested, nor have I received anything from any state or government agency with regards to charges, warrants, or notices of appearance. I have my property receipt from the office. The officer told me they were confiscated under penal code ca. 626.9i. This happened in April 2013. They confiscated a total of 5 firearms (all legal and registered) 1 set of extended magazines 10-22 rifle. A side note (Monterrey county includes the city of Salinas, we have a monstrous amount of violent crime here)

My questions are as follows:

What are the statute of limitation?

Can I still be arrested and charged if so, how long do the police have to do so?

If i am arrested and charged, how much time/fines am I looking at facing?

At this time being that I have not received documentation from the DA or police, nor have I been arrested, will a background check for employment come back clean?

Seeing as I live in a crime infested county is there even a remote chance that I may not even be charged as the DA has more pressing matters to attend to?


Asked on 7/18/13, 2:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

1. It sounds as though it is a general felony with a punishment carrying imprisonment, and the District Attorney would have three (3) years to file charges against you, which is not anytime soon.

2. Yes, they can arrest you at any time. The statute of limitations only applies to the filing of criminal charges. There is no statute of limitations that applies to an arrest. There are speedy trial rights which come into play when you are arrested, but they have nothing to do with the statute of limitations.

3. The minimum sentence set by Penal Code section 626.9, subdivision (i), is one (1) year, with a maximum sentence of three (3) years.

4. The term background check is misleading. If an employer right now asks if you have been convicted of a crime, you can legitimately say no. But if an employer finds out there are charges pending against you for something serious like this, you may be out of a job.

5. Don't ever rely on the volume of cases in the DA's office to build up a false hope that you won't be prosecuted. The DA always has time for prosecuting someone.

Having firearms on school property is a serious matter. I understand your concerns about crime, and could have suggested that you get permission first, but it is too late to do that now. School shootings occupy the nation's attention right now, and I would not be surprised if the DA did file charges against you. The best thing that you can do now is consult with a competent criminal defense attorney in your area now. Do not try to talk yourself out of this by speaking with the police, or school officials.

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Answered on 7/18/13, 10:09 am


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