In re D.M. CA3

Filed 8/19/25 In re D.M. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

In re D.M., a Person Coming C102428 Under the Juvenile Court Law.

THE PEOPLE, (Super. Ct. No. JV141528)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

D.M.,

Defendant and Appellant.

In this corpus delicti case, minor and appellant D.M. told police officers the handgun they found in his girlfriend’s bedroom belonged to him. The juvenile court found that minor possessed the firearm, declared minor a ward of the court, and placed him on probation. On appeal, minor contends the juvenile court’s finding violated the corpus delicti rule because no independent evidence established that a crime of illegal firearm possession had been committed. We disagree and affirm.

1

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND While executing a search warrant at girlfriend’s home, police officers found a handgun in girlfriend’s bedroom. Officers detained minor, girlfriend, and at least three others who were present during the search. An officer explained to minor that girlfriend was under arrest because they found a firearm in her bedroom. Minor told the officer that the firearm belonged to him and that he had been inside girlfriend’s bedroom. At the contested jurisdiction hearing, an officer testified that he authored several search warrants after seeing two social media accounts posting videos and pictures of firearms that he believed were illegally possessed. But neither account was associated with minor. One of the search warrants was for an individual unrelated to this case who lived at the home. Minor’s mother testified that minor never lived at the home. The district attorney filed a juvenile wardship petition alleging minor committed possession of a firearm (Pen. Code, § 29610). The juvenile court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the allegation in the petition was true. It declared minor a ward of the court and placed him on probation. Minor timely appeals. DISCUSSION Minor contends the evidence independent of his admission failed to establish the corpus delicti of illegal firearm possession. We disagree. Penal Code section 29610, subdivision (c) prohibits a minor from possessing any firearm. A minor’s possession of a firearm can be actual or constructive. (In re I.A. (2020) 48 Cal.App.5th 767, 778.) Actual possession means the minor has immediate possession or control of the firearm; constructive possession means the firearm is not in the minor’s physical possession, but the minor knowingly exercises a right to control the firearm, either directly or through another person. (Ibid.) “Possession of a weapon may