High Court Declines Appeal of Tarzana Man Who Tried to Kill His Girlfriend

The California Supreme Court declined Wednesday to review the case against a Tarzana man who tried to kill his girlfriend and opened fire on police officers sent to the scene.

In a ruling released last month, a three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense's contention that Jason Dana Paul's conviction for possession of a sap -- described by a police officer as a bludgeoning tool -- violated his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

The defense did not challenge Paul's conviction on nine other counts, including attempted murder, assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a machine gun and possession of an assault weapon, according to the appellate court panel's Dec. 5 ruling.

The charges stemmed from a Feb. 28, 2010, attack on his girlfriend at their Tarzana townhouse.

Paul pushed the woman to the floor and kicked her until she was able to flee to the unit of a neighbor who had already called 911, according to the appellate court panel's opinion.

Paul chased the woman to the neighbor's unit, kicked in the door and began to fire a handgun, striking his girlfriend twice.

Paul then barricaded himself inside his townhouse and shot at officers who were trying to escort fire department personnel into the neighbor's unit to treat his girlfriend, and held officers at bay for several hours.

He was sentenced in August 2011 to 35 years to life in state prison.