Section 2151 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime. Give this instruction if the prosecution alleges that the defendant drove the
vehicle. If the prosecution alleges that the defendant was a nondriving owner present
in the vehicle or other passenger in control of the vehicle, give CALCRIM No.
2151, Failure to Perform Duty Following Accident: Property Damage—Defendant
Nondriving Owner or Passenger in Control.
If causation is at issue, the court has a sua sponte duty to instruct on proximate
cause. (People v. Bernhardt (1963) 222 Cal.App.2d 567, 590–591 [35 Cal.Rptr.
401].) If the evidence indicates that there was only one cause of property damage,
the court should give the “direct, natural, and probable” language in the first
bracketed paragraph on causation. If there is evidence of multiple causes of property
damage, the court should also give the “substantial factor” instruction in the second
bracketed paragraph on causation. (See People v. Autry (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 351,
363 [43 Cal.Rptr.2d 135]; People v. Pike (1988) 197 Cal.App.3d 732, 746–747 [243
Cal.Rptr. 54].)
Give the bracketed paragraph defining “involved in a vehicle accident” if that is an
issue in the case.
Give the bracketed paragraph stating that “the driver is required to identify himself
or herself as the driver” if there is evidence that the defendant stopped and
identified himself or herself but not in a way that made it apparent to the other
parties that the defendant was the driver. (People v. Kroncke (1999) 70 Cal.App.4th
1535, 1546 [83 Cal.Rptr.2d 493].)
Give the bracketed sentence that begins with “The property damaged may include”
if the evidence shows that the accident may have damaged only the defendant’s
vehicle.
Give the bracketed paragraph that begins with “If the accident caused the defendant
to be unconscious” if there is sufficient evidence that the defendant was unconscious
or disabled at the scene of the accident.
On request, give CALCRIM No. 2241, Driver and Driving Defined.
AUTHORITY
•
Elements. Veh. Code, § 20002; People v. Carbajal (1995) 10 Cal.4th 1114, 1123,
fn. 10 [43 Cal.Rptr.2d 681, 899 P.2d 67].
•
Knowledge of Accident. People v. Carbajal (1995) 10 Cal.4th 1114, 1123, fn. 10
[43 Cal.Rptr.2d 681, 899 P.2d 67].
•
Willful Failure to Perform Duty. People v. Crouch (1980) 108 Cal.App.3d Supp.
14, 21–22 [166 Cal.Rptr. 818].
•
Duty Applies Regardless of Fault for Accident. People v. Scofield (1928) 203
Cal. 703, 708 [265 P. 914].
•
Involved Defined. People v. Bammes (1968) 265 Cal.App.2d 626, 631 [71
CALCRIM No. 2150
VEHICLE OFFENSES
184

a conspicuous place on the vehicle or other damaged property. He
or she must then also, without unnecessary delay, notify either
the police department of the city where the accident happened or
the local headquarters of the California Highway Patrol if the
accident happened in an unincorporated area.
Someone commits an act willfully when he or she does it wil