Section 1501 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

structure or property, see CALCRIM No. 1501, Arson: Great Bodily Injury and
CALCRIM No. 1502, Arson: Inhabited Structure.
If attempted arson is charged, do not instruct generally on attempts but give
CALCRIM No. 1520, Attempted Arson. (Pen. Code, § 455.)
AUTHORITY
•
Elements. Pen. Code, § 451(c–d).
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Structure, Forest Land, and Maliciously Defined. Pen. Code, § 450; see People v.
Labaer (2001) 88 Cal.App.4th 289, 293–294 [105 Cal.Rptr.2d 629] [“structure”
does not require finished or completed building].
•
General Intent Crime. People v. Atkins (2001) 25 Cal.4th 76, 83–84, 86 [104
Cal.Rptr.2d 738, 18 P.3d 660] [evidence of voluntary intoxication not admissible
to negate mental state].
•
Property Defined. In re L.T. (2002) 103 Cal.App.4th 262, 264–265 [126
Cal.Rptr.2d 778].
•
To Burn Defined. People v. Haggerty (1873) 46 Cal. 354, 355; In re Jesse L.
(1990) 221 Cal.App.3d 161, 166–167 [270 Cal.Rptr. 389].
LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES
•
Attempted Arson. Pen. Code, § 455.
•
Unlawfully Causing a Fire. People v. Hooper (1986) 181 Cal.App.3d 1174, 1182
[226 Cal.Rptr. 810], disapproved of in People v. Barton (1995) 12 Cal.4th 186
[47 Cal.Rptr.2d 569, 906 P.2d 531] on its holding that failure to instruct on this
crime as a lesser included offense of arson was invited error because defense
counsel objected to such instruction; People v. Schwartz (1992) 2 Cal.App.4th
1319, 1324 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 816].
RELATED ISSUES
Fixtures
Fire damage to fixtures within a building may satisfy the burning requirement if the
fixtures are an integral part of the structure. (In re Jesse L. (1990) 221 Cal.App.3d
161, 167–168 [270 Cal.Rptr. 389]; People v. Lee (1994) 24 Cal.App.4th 1773, 1778
[30 Cal.Rptr.2d 224] [whether wall-to-wall carpeting is a fixture is question of fact
for jury].)
Property: Clothing
Arson includes burning a victim’s clothing. (People v. Reese (1986) 182 Cal.App.3d
737, 739–740 [227 Cal.Rptr. 526].)
ARSON
CALCRIM No. 1515
1087