An inmate recently convicted of assault on a peace officer through force likely to produce great bodily injury under the California Penal Code appealed on the basis that the injured person wasn’t employed as a peace officer.
In the case of P. v. Okosco, a deputy sheriff for San Bernardino County was getting the West Valley Detention Center’s inmates ready to go to court. He was changing the defendant’s leg shackles when the defendant started shouting at a fellow inmate. The deputy sheriff unsuccessfully tried to make the defendant stop, then decided to lead him down the hallway to a holding cell. The defendant pulled away from the deputy sheriff and struck him in the face with his elbow.
The deputy sheriff suffered injuries to his temple that needed three stitches. The jury convicted the defendant of assault on a peace officer by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury under section 245(c) of the Penal Code. The lower court sentenced him to 16 months in prison. The defendant appealed.
The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division One reversed the judgment and remanded the matter to the lower court for a new trial.
Section 830.1(a) of the Penal Code conferred peace officer status on any deputy sheriff, employed in that capacity, of a county. In this case, the appellate court determined that the injured party was working as a peace officer under the statute’s plain language since he was employed as a deputy sheriff for San Bernardino County...
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