Police Officer Can Carry Gun After Battery Conviction.

A deputy sheriff was convicted of violating Penal Code section 242, battery upon his live-in girlfriend, in 1993. He was placed on three years’ probation. His posttrial motion requesting an order granting him relief from the prohibition against possessing and owning a firearm under section 12021 was granted. He successfully completed probation and then successfully moved to have his battery conviction set aside pursuant to section 1203.4. In 2009, shortly after receiving an exemplary performance evaluation, he received a letter notifying him of the department’s intent to discharge him because he was disqualified from carrying a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), a federal gun control act. He unsuccessfully appealed his discharge to the Civil Service Commission, and then unsuccessfully sought extraordinary relief in superior court. In a two to one decision, the appellate court reversed, stating: “[W]e agree that plaintiff‘s conviction for battery under Penal Code section 242, does not qualify as a predicate misdemeanor crime of domestic violence within the meaning of the federal statute, and therefore reverse.” The dissenting justice stated that “domestic abusers are often prosecuted under general assault or battery statutes, and Congress could not have intended to preclude individuals who suffer convictions under those types of statutes from being brought within the ambit of the federal firearms prohibition.” Shirey v. Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission  (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 8; May 6, 2013) 216 Cal.App.4th 1.