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F 18.82a
Impersonating A Public Officer (PC 146a(b)):
Whether “Public Officer” Must Be “State Public Officer”
The defendant is accused in Count[s] ____ [and ___] of having committed the crime of impersonating an officer, violation of [section] 146[a, subdivision (b)] of the Penal Code.
Every person who falsely represents himself to be a public officer and who in that assumed character does any of the following, is guilty of a felony: Arrests, detains, or threatens to arrest or detain any person, or otherwise intimidates any person or obtains money, property, or other thing of value.
In order to prove this crime, each of the following elements must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. A person falsely represented himself as a public officer with the specific intent of inducing another person to believe that he was a public officer;
2. In that assumed character, the person did any of the following: Arrested, detained, or threatened to arrest or detain a person, or otherwise intimidated any person, or obtained money, property, or any other thing of value with the specific intent of permanently depriving any person of his property permanently.
The term peace officer or public officer includes any chief of police employed in that capacity of a city, or any police officer employed in that capacity and appointed by the chief of police or the chief executive of the agency or of the city.
Points and Authorities
Instruction given in People v. Gonzalez (2003) 114 CA4th 560, 571. The last paragraph is from CJ 1.26.
