Jim March
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 7, 1998
- Messages
- 3,018
If you have experience as a knife *dealer* or *designer* or anything close, a man is going on trial tomorrow for possession of a "switchblade" - an ordinary linerlock 4" or so pocketknife. We need an expert witness on knife tech.
The man on trial is charged with NOTHING else.
If you can help, please call:
Adam Vining
Deputy Public Defender
714-935-7413
Adam.Vining@pubdef.ocgov.com
He got ahold of me through my website. I can't qualify as a court expert and I'm not local anyways.
Issues: the knife is a cheap Chinese linerlock
. It may not have a detent. However it's at least stiff enough that it doesn't "fall open" under gravity. It has a pivot pin that is NOT adjustable to the user and apparantly hasn't been tampered with to make it snapopen easier...the bolt head is an odd "security" type with no signs of pliers adjustment or similar. A higher-end knife such as a CRKT might have a ball-bearing-type "detent" in the liner and matching divot in the blade when closed, but it makes no difference whatsoever in terms of snapopens.
Best arguments are probably that it hasn't been deliberately modded to snapopen and might have gotten sloppy over time (no intent to commit a switchblade carry crime), and that the presense of a ball bearing/divot makes no difference in terms of lethality. Finally, the knife almost certainly won't "gravity fall" so that can be described as a "bias towards closure" under PC653k. (And yes, a claim against the stop and search will be made too.)
If you can't get ahold of Adam, call me at 916-370-0347 if you can help.
Jim March
http://www.equalccw.com/knifelaw.html
The man on trial is charged with NOTHING else.
If you can help, please call:
Adam Vining
Deputy Public Defender
714-935-7413
Adam.Vining@pubdef.ocgov.com
He got ahold of me through my website. I can't qualify as a court expert and I'm not local anyways.
Issues: the knife is a cheap Chinese linerlock
. It may not have a detent. However it's at least stiff enough that it doesn't "fall open" under gravity. It has a pivot pin that is NOT adjustable to the user and apparantly hasn't been tampered with to make it snapopen easier...the bolt head is an odd "security" type with no signs of pliers adjustment or similar. A higher-end knife such as a CRKT might have a ball-bearing-type "detent" in the liner and matching divot in the blade when closed, but it makes no difference whatsoever in terms of snapopens.Best arguments are probably that it hasn't been deliberately modded to snapopen and might have gotten sloppy over time (no intent to commit a switchblade carry crime), and that the presense of a ball bearing/divot makes no difference in terms of lethality. Finally, the knife almost certainly won't "gravity fall" so that can be described as a "bias towards closure" under PC653k. (And yes, a claim against the stop and search will be made too.)
If you can't get ahold of Adam, call me at 916-370-0347 if you can help.
Jim March
http://www.equalccw.com/knifelaw.html
