Gunfire Law Violators Get Slap on Wrist

Although a new state law permits felony prosecution in such cases, prosecutors in Los Angeles and Orange counties filed misdemeanor charges against about two dozen people suspected of firing guns into the air on New Year’s Eve, officials said.

Starting Monday, however, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office will review all such cases with the intention of upgrading them to felonies, according to Gregory Thompson, chief deputy district attorney.

“There were a couple days we were trying to get our sea legs on this,” Thompson acknowledged. “The first few days, we decided to let it rest with the discretion of the individuals filing the cases. . . .”

The law, sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), makes it illegal to “willfully discharge a firearm in a grossly negligent manner that could result in injury or death to a person.” It is known in law enforcement circles as “a wobbler,” a statute that can be filed either as a misdemeanor or as a felony.

“To prosecute as a felony, when appropriate, was the whole point of this legislation,” said Deborah Ortiz, legislative assistant to Polanco. “We are clearly happy they are re-evaluating.”

In many Southland neighborhoods on New Year’s Eve and on the Fourth of July, gun owners fire handguns, shotguns and sometimes machine guns into the air. Often, people blocks away are injured or killed by falling bullets.

Santa Ana police received about 100 reports of gunfire this past New Year’s Eve.

Westminster police arrested two men under the new law: Alberto Miranda, 45, and Eustacio Flores, 33. But the Orange County district attorney’s office has filed misdemeanor charges in both cases under a Westminster municipal ordinance outlawing such gunplay, according to Robert Fowler, court liaison officer for Westminster police.

“They might not have felt (they were) felony caliber,” Westminster Police Detective Michael Proctor said. “It’s a brand new section, and it’s their right to make that determination.”

Times staff writer Bob Schwartz in Orange County contributed to this story.