Kidnapping for Ransom: Court Of Appeal Identifies Errors In CC 1202
March 30th, 2014

  People v. Eid (2010) 187 Cal. App. 4th 859, 878, concluded that CC 1202 fails to clearly inform the jury that, to prove a defendant guilty of kidnapping for ransom, the People must prove, inter alia, (1) that the victim did not consent to the confinement, concealment, or other predicate act, and (2) where […]


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Grossly Negligent Shooting Of Firearm: Defense Theory Of Belief That Gun Was Unloaded
March 30th, 2014

    If the defendant actually believed that the firearm he or she discharged was unloaded, the defendant has not violated this statute. (People v. Robertson (2004) 34 Cal. 4th 156.) However, Robertson was overruled in People v. Chun (2009) 45 Cal. 4th 1172, as follows:   To avoid the anomaly of putting a person […]


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In-Custody Informant
March 30th, 2014

  If the witness is an in-custody informant, CC 336 should be given upon request, as well as CC 337, which cautions jurors not to consider the reason the witness is in custody. Regarding CC 337, the Court of Appeal has held this instruction should not be given unless the shackles are visible to the […]


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Kidnapping During Carjacking
March 20th, 2014

  People v. Ortiz (2012) 208 Cal. App. 4th 1354,, upheld CC 1204 which deals with kidnapping during a carjacking. The Court of Appeal rejected the defendants’ arguments that the court should have instructed that the offense of kidnapping during a carjacking requires that the purpose of the kidnapping was to facilitate a carjacking and, […]


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Instructing on Character Versus Honesty
March 20th, 2014

  In revising CC 350 in August of 2012, the CC Committee stated that “A judge noticed that the instructions for filling in the blanks for “insert character trait” in [CC 350], Character of Defendant, could pose a problem if the trait in question were honesty. Character evidence must be relevant to the charged offenses, […]


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Kidnapping: Substantial Distance Is Merely One Of Several Factors To Consider
March 10th, 2014

  People v. Bell (2009)179 Cal. App. 4th 428, held that the wording of a portion of CC 1215 was erroneous.   “Without further explanation of what distance is ‘merely incidental’ to the associated crime, a jury could easily interpret the instruction to require a jury to acquit a defendant of kidnapping because the movement […]


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CC 852 Comparable To CC 1191
March 10th, 2014

  People v. Johnson (2008) 164 Cal. App. 4th 731, 739, observed that CC 852 tracks the language of EC § 1109 in the same way that CC 1191 tracks the language of EC § 1108 regarding evidence of uncharged sex offenses. Therefore, because CC 1191 does not undermine the People’s burden of proving the […]


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Failure To Explain Or Deny Evidence
March 10th, 2014

  This instruction is similar to CJ 2.62 and has been upheld by the courts. (People v. Rodriguez (2009)179 Cal. App. 4th 1062.)


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CC 852 Equivalent To CJ 250.02 Re: Other Crimes
March 1st, 2014

  People v. Reyes (2008) 160 Cal. App. 4th 246, 251, noted that CJ 2.50.02 had been upheld numerous times as adequately explaining how the jury should consider other crimes. Reyes concluded that the reasoning of cases upholding the CJ instruction applied equally to CC 852. “In fact [CC 852] is expressed in clearer language […]


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CC 925 Battery With Serious Bodily Injury: Medical Treatment Not Required
March 1st, 2014

  The Court of Appeal has held that CC 925 correctly does not require a finding of medical treatment to prove battery with serious bodily injury. (People v. Wade (2012) 204 Cal. App. 4th 1142, 1148-1149.)


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