Bring Weapon to Court
Obviously, it's illegal to bring in any sort of a weapon into a courthouse in Los Angeles County. Of the thirty courthouses, every single one has multiple metal detectors at the door. A lot of them will not even let you bring in a belt.
You have to take it off and put it through the metal detector. There's a whole list of items that are not permitted inside a particular courthouse. What they're really looking out for is public safety and making sure that nobody does anything inappropriate while inside the criminal court in Los Angeles.
Protection of the Public
California Penal Code §171b protects judges, prosecutors, and the general public. It applies to courthouses and other public buildings. So, anywhere people have to be in there, and it's a public building, that would obviously cover any Los Angeles County courthouse. No weapons are permitted.
So, at this point, because I've been going through these metal detectors for twenty-five years, the metal detectors are pretty sensitive at most of the courthouses. They vary.
But the bottom line is, they're going to keep everything in. You can't come in with a lighter, a knife, or any type of safety pin. Anything that can cause damage – obviously, regular knives and guns are prohibited – no taser guns.
The sheriffs are armed in the courthouses, but they obviously don't want anybody else harmed in there, especially when there are defendants in there who are charged with very serious crimes.
The bottom line is, if you get caught bringing a weapon into a courthouse, there's a good chance they're going to try to send you to prison – especially if they can make the determination that the reason that you brought the weapon in is that you were trying to do something unlawful with the weapon – either help a defendant escape, go after a judge or a prosecutor – these are the types of crimes that will get you multiple years in prison.
So, suppose you're charged with bringing a weapon inside a courthouse. In that case, you're going to want to get a good attorney very quickly to assess everything, go over your case with you, and help you decide whether you're going to fight the case or whether it's the type of case that should be negotiated as part of a plea bargain.
Defenses To Bringing A Weapon Into A Courthouse In Los Angeles
One defense might be that whatever it is they are claiming is a weapon is not a weapon. We had one case where an attorney was actually given a fake gun.
It was a lighter gun, part of the case, and he brought it through the metal detector, not knowing that it was even in his briefcase. Obviously, that's not a weapon.
It was a lighter, and he was not going to be charged, especially since he didn't realize that the gun was in his briefcase. Sometimes, it needs to be clarified. Sometimes, people bring things in that look like weapons and could cause damage to somebody.
Still, the surrounding circumstances and facts clearly show that the person wasn't bringing it in to do anything wrong and just basically didn't think about the fact that they had it or forgot they had it.
However, the key is that they had no criminal purpose in bringing whatever it was that was being designated as a weapon. So, that would be the first defense, which is that whatever it is is not a weapon and is not intended to be used as a weapon.
“I forgot” is usually not going to work if you're bringing a gun in. That happens all the time in the airports. It's the same thing in the courthouse. You can't forget to bring a gun inside the courthouse and try to use that as a defense. It's not going to work.
There are other items and circumstances where it could work – where you could have a defense – where you could not know as to the dangerous nature of whatever you brought in, and maybe you don't even remember that you brought it into the court.
A lot of times, if the sheriffs or prosecutors in Los Angeles get one of these weapons in a courthouse case, it's a judgment call.
So, if you've got a weapon in a courthouse case, give me a call, and we'll sit down and go over everything. Please provide me with all the details and facts, and don't forget to include anything.
Could you be honest about what happened in the privacy of my office? We can make some good judgment calls to give you some peace of mind moving forward about exactly what you're up against, what you're looking at, and what you can do to help in your possession of a weapon in a courthouse.
Hopefully, we can either get the case dismissed, get a lesser charge, or get it set up to do damage control to get you out of the criminal justice system as fast as possible.
