Does Robbery Justify the Use of Deadly Force in Self Defense?
July 19th, 2022
PC 197 permits use of deadly force to prevent a felony only if the felony is “forcible and atrocious.” (People v. Morales (2021) 69 Cal.App.5th 978, 991.) Forcible and atrocious crimes are generally those crimes whose character and manner reasonably create a fear of death or serious bodily harm. (People v. Ceballos (1974) 12 Cal.3d […]
Tags: CC 3470, CC 505, CC 506, Robbery, Self Defense
Self Defense: Distinction Between Homicide Versus Assault Charges
February 3rd, 2022
“The difference between CALCRIM No. 3470 and CALCRIM No. 505—that is,the difference between self-defense in the homicide context and self-defense that will justify an assault—lies in the type of the threat the defendant believed they faced. To justify a homicide or attempted homicide, the defendant must believe that “danger” or “great bodily harm” is imminent, […]
Tags: CC 3470, CC 505, Self Defense
Transferred Self Defense
January 27th, 2022
The doctrine of transferred self-defense is available to insulate one from criminal responsibility where his or her act, justifiably in self-defense, inadvertently resulted in the injury of an innocent bystander. Under this doctrine, “just as one’s criminal intent follows the corresponding criminal act to its unintended consequences,” so too “one’s lack of criminal intent follows […]
Tags: CC 3470, CC 505, Sample Instructions, Self Defense
The Huge Impact of A Tiny Two-Letter Word
October 15th, 2020
In this March 10, 2020 post FORECITE discussed the CALCRIM instructions which define great bodily injury as a “significant or substantial physical injury … that is greater than minor or moderate harm.” The post suggested, in reliance on People v. Medellin (2020) 45 Cal.App.5th 519, 533- 535 that — as argued by the prosecutor in […]
Tags: CC 1300, CC 1402, CC 1501, CC 1530, CC 1551, CC 2501, CC 2503, CC 2514, CC 2578, CC 2720, CC 2721, CC 2745, CC 2746, CC 2747, CC 3130, CC 3145, CC 3149, CC 3150, CC 3160, CC 3161, CC 3162, CC 3163, CC 3177, CC 3477, CC 505, CC 508, CC 511, CC 524, CC 525, CC 571, CC 580, CC 581, CC 582, CC 590, CC 592, CC 604, CC 810, CC 820, CC 860, CC 862, CC 863, CC 875, CC 970, CC 982, CC 983, GBI, Sample Instructions
