By Ned Meiners
FRESNO, CA – Kalvin McCoy was arraigned on gun charges here Monday in Fresno County Superior Court—and for him it is even more serious because he is currently on probation for an offense he incurred as minor, which includes a lifetime restriction on gun possession.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Moss stated that on April 23 a witness saw “a disturbance” between McCoy, 18, and another male involving a gun and called law enforcement.
According to Moss, “When law enforcement arrived, they detained the defendant and obtained consent to search his vehicle,” which revealed a loaded 31-round magazine and an unregistered handgun with no serial number.
According to the prosecutor, McCoy admitted to police that the handgun belonged to him.
Fresno Country Public Defender James Orr requested pretrial release for the defendant, citing that McCoy has a stable living situation and a job.
“I can tell the court that he would be living with his grandmother if released. He has a full-time job at Amazon packing orders that he’s held for the past year,” maintained Orr.
Judge Heather Jones took the opportunity to dress down the defendant.
“Mr. McCoy, you are 18 years old and have a prior juvenile strike for robbery. It looks like…you are still on probation in your juvenile case and you’re not supposed to have a gun,” the judge noted.
However, the judge did agree to grant McCoy pretrial release, but was direct with the defendant on the conditions of his release, explaining, “Let me be absolutely clear, if you have so much as one bullet in your possession while this case is proceeding, you will be back in custody.”
The terms of probation for McCoy’s juvenile robbery conviction include a lifetime ban on owning and possession of ammunition.
“You are not to have any firearms or ammunition, for life—that is for life! You have juvenile adjudication that is serious and that will be used against you for the rest of your life,” the judge elaborated.
As a condition of pretrial release McCoy will be on probation and any infraction or failure to appear in court will result in his incarceration. He must maintain consistent contact with his probation officer, have his whereabouts monitored and may be subject to search at any time.
“You cannot afford to go down the path that you’re on,” warned Judge Jones. “You will be in prison if you keep making these types of choices.”
Pretrial hearing is scheduled for June 2.
Ned Meiners is a Legal Studies student at City College San Francisco. Originally from Maine, he currently resides on Bernal Hill in San Francisco.
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