Tag Archives: Judge Duty to Instruct


Attempted Criminal Threat Requires Dual Jury Findings
March 27th, 2015

  People v. Chandler (2014) 60 Cal. 4th 508, 524-525 relied on First Amendment concerns in construing PC 422 to require both a subjective and objective element:   To avoid substantial First Amendment concerns associated with criminalizing speech, we construe the offense of attempted criminal threat to require proof that the defendant had a subjective […]


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No Sua Sponte Duty To Instruct On Defense Theory That Negates An Element Of The Offense; IAC For Failure To Request Defense Theory Instruction
February 9th, 2015

  People v. Hussain (2014) 231 Cal. App. 4th 261, 269-72, extended the holding of People v. Anderson (2011) 51 Cal.4th 989, 998 [trial courts do not have a duty to instruct sua sponte on the defense of accident] to a situation where the defendant relied claim of right to negate the felonious intent to […]


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Substantial Evidence Of Guilt Does Not Cure Instruction That Omits Or Misstates An Element Of The Charged Offense
February 6th, 2015

  As with the total failure to instruct on an element of the charge, misinstruction on an element warrants reversal if “the jury could have reasonably concluded that the prosecution failed to prove [the element] beyond a reasonable doubt ….” (People v. Wilkins (2013) 56 Cal. 4th 333, 350-51.) This requires the reviewing court to […]


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CALCRIM Is Not The Law And Is Not Sacrosanct
January 27th, 2015

  “Jury instructions are only judge-made attempts to recast the words of statutes and the elements of crimes into words in terms comprehensible to the lay person. The texts of standard jury instructions are not debated and hammered out by legislators, but by ad hoc committees of lawyers and judges. Jury instructions do not come […]


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Reasonable Doubt: Sua Sponte Duty
May 20th, 2014

  The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction and there is probably no more important instruction that must be given. Failure to give a proper reasonable doubt instruction sua sponte may require automatic reversal. (People v. Phillips (1997) 59 Cal. App. 4th 952, 955-956, disapproved on other grounds by People v. […]


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Jurors Must Be Admonished At Every Adjournment
May 1st, 2014

When it revised CC 124 in August of 2012, the CC Committee stated, “Penal Code section 1122(a)(1), and Code of Civil Procedure section 1209(a)(6), now require the court to admonish jurors before each adjournment, not to use electronic or wireless communication.” Therefore the committee added such an admonition to CC 124. (Advisory Committee on Criminal […]


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CC 1600 Robbery: Intent To Apply Force Is Not An Element
March 30th, 2014

  People v. Anderson (2011) 51 Cal. 4th 989, 998-99, held, “the intent element of robbery does not include an intent to apply force against the victim or to cause the victim to feel fear. It is robbery if the defendant committed a forcible act against the victim motivated by the intent to steal, even […]


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CC 376 Possession Of Recently Stolen Property: CC 376 Not Required Sua Sponte
February 20th, 2014

  The CC Committee has concluded that the trial judge has no sua sponte duty to instruct with CC 376. (CC 376 Bench Notes, citing People v. Najera (2008) 43 Cal. 4th 132.) The CJ equivalent is CJ 2.15.


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CC 3406 Mistake Of Fact As Defense Theory: Not Required Sua Sponte
January 10th, 2014

  The trial judge does not have a sua sponte duty to instruct on mistake of fact. (People v. Lawson (2013) 215 Cal. App. 4th 108.)


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