People v. Ceja

Filed 8/30/23

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G061609

v. (Super. Ct. No. 21NF2816)

EWARD ANTHONY CEJA, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Robert A. Knox, Judge. Affirmed. Vanessa Place, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Junichi P. Semitsu and Eric A. Swenson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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A jury convicted defendant Edward Anthony Ceja of being a felon in 1 possession of ammunition and other charges. (Pen. Code, § 30305, subd. (a)(1).) On appeal, Ceja’s sole claim is that the felon in possession of ammunition statute facially violates the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (Italics added.) Another Court of Appeal recently held that California’s laws prohibiting felons from possessing firearms and ammunition do not violate the Constitution because “only law-abiding citizens are included among ‘the people’ whose right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment.” (People v. Alexander (2023) 91 Cal.App.5th 469, 478, italics added (Alexander).) We agree and affirm the judgment.

I FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND This appeal concerns only a facial challenge to a statute. Accordingly, the underlying facts are not particularly relevant. Very briefly, during an apparent incident of road rage, Ceja shot a firearm from his vehicle into another vehicle. Police later arrested Ceja while he was holding a backpack containing methamphetamine and a loaded handgun. A jury convicted Ceja of two counts of assault with a firearm, one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition, and one count of possessing a controlled substance while armed with a firearm. The trial court found true allegations of three prior strike convictions and three prior serious felony convictions. At a later sentencing hearing, the court dismissed four of Ceja’s prior conviction allegations and imposed a term of 17 years in state prison.