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F 18.27a
False Report Of Felony or Misdemeanor
(PC 148.5)
Every person who reports to a __________ [insert appropriate person, e.g., police officer] that a felony or misdemeanor has been committed, knowing the report to be false, is guilty of violating PC 148.5, a misdemeanor. [¶] In order to prove the commission of such crime each of the following elements must be proved: (1) The defendant voluntarily supplied a __________ [insert “police officer,” etc.] with information that a felony or misdemeanor was committed. (2) The report made by the defendant was false in that no felony or misdemeanor was committed. (3) At the time [he] [she] made the report defendant had actual knowledge that no felony or misdemeanor was committed.
Points and Authorities
The statutory language clearly requires actual knowledge as an element of the charge.
A person who voluntarily supplies information about a purported crime to the police makes a “report” within the meaning of the statute. (People v. Lawson (79) 100 CA3d 60, 67 [161 CR 7].)
Failure to adequately instruct the jury upon matters relating to proof of any element of the charge and/or the prosecution’s burden of proof thereon violates the defendant’s state (Art. I, § 15 and § 16) and federal (6th and 14th Amendments) constitutional rights to trial by jury and due process. [See generally, FORECITE PG VII(C).]
