| People v. Bray | |
| Court: | California Court of Appeals |
| Full Name: | The People of the State of California, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. James Eugene Bray, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Citations: | 52 Cal. App. 3d 494; 124 Cal. Rptr. 913 |
| Judges: | Gerald Brown, Richard D. Ault, Martin J. Coughlin |
| Number Of Judges: | 3 |
| Majority: | Brown |
| Joinmajority: | Ault, Coughlin |
People v. Bray, (1975), was a case decided by the California Court of Appeal that allowed ignorance of a grading element to be a defense to criminal prosecution.[1]
Defendant Bray was convicted of being a felon in possession of firearms. Bray did possess two concealable firearms, but his status as a felon was unclear. Bray had been convicted in Kansas years earlier of being an accessory after the fact, but even at trial it was unclear if this offense was a felony under Kansas law. Subsequently, when Bray was required to disclose felon status on forms for things like voting, he explained the situation and was allowed to vote in California.[2]
The Court of Appeal reversed Bray's conviction, allowing his mistake about his felony status to act as a defense to criminal liability. Under the Model Penal Code, a mistake of criminal law, like one's felony status, is not normally allowed as a defense.[3] Instead the court treated Bray's mistake about his felony status, a grading element in the statute under which he was charged, as a mistake of fact that was an appropriate defense.[4]