California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Michaels, 122 Cal.Rptr.2d 285, 28 Cal.4th 486, 49 P.3d 1032 (Cal. 2002):
We conclude that the criminal character of defendant's possession of knives and firearms, and the evidence of defendant's use of those or similar weapons to commit crimes, is sufficient to permit a jury to view his possession as an implied threat of violence. Defendant, of course, was free to and did present evidence to the jury to show that his possession was for the purpose of self-protection, or the protection of someone else, not for criminal violence. (People v. Ramirez, supra, 50 Cal.3d at p. 1187, 270 Cal.Rptr. 286, 791 P.2d 965.)
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