Section 2502 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

explosive/could be used as a stabbing weapon), consider all the
surrounding circumstances, including the time and place of possession.
Consider also (the destination of the defendant[,]/ the alteration of the
object from standard form[,]) and other facts, if any.]
[The People allege that the defendant carried the following weapons:
<insert description of each weapon when multiple items
alleged>. You may not find the defendant guilty unless all of you agree
that the People have proved that the defendant carried at least one of
these weapons and you all agree on which weapon (he/she) carried and
when (he/she) carried it.]
New January 2006; Revised February 2012, September 2020
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
If the prosecution alleges under a single count that the defendant possessed multiple
weapons and the possession was “fragmented as to time . . . [or] space,” the court
has a sua sponte duty to instruct on unanimity. (See People v. Wolfe (2003) 114
Cal.App.4th 177, 184–185 [7 Cal.Rptr.3d 483].) Give the bracketed paragraph
beginning “The People allege that the defendant possessed the following weapons,”
inserting the items alleged.
Give the bracketed paragraph that begins with “When deciding whether” only if the
object was not designed solely for use as a stabbing weapon but may have innocent
uses. (People v. Fannin (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1399, 1404 [111 Cal.Rptr.2d 496];
People v. Grubb (1965) 63 Cal.2d 614, 620–621, fn. 9 [47 Cal.Rptr. 772, 408 P.2d
100].)
When instructing on the meaning of “explosive,” if the explosive is listed in Health
and Safety Code section 12000, the court may use the bracketed sentence stating,
“
is an explosive.” For example, “Nitroglycerine is an explosive.”
However, the court may not instruct the jury that the defendant used an explosive.
For example, the court may not state, “The defendant used an explosive,
nitroglycerine,” or “The substance used by the defendant, nitroglycerine, was an
explosive.” (See People v. Dimitrov (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 18, 25–26 [39
Cal.Rptr.2d 257]; People v. Brown (1988) 46 Cal.3d 432, 444–445 [250 Cal.Rptr.
604, 758 P.2d 1135].)
If the court gives the instruction on a “folding knife that is not prohibited by Penal
Code section 21510,” give a modified version of CALCRIM No. 2502, Possession,
etc., of Switchblade Knife.
The second sentence of the great bodily injury definition could result in error if the
prosecution improperly argues great bodily injury may be shown by greater than
CALCRIM No. 2501
WEAPONS
360

[Two or more people may possess something at the same time.]
[A person does not have to actually hold or touch something to possess
it. It is enough if the person has (control over it/ [or] the right to control
it), either personally or through another person.]
[The People allege that the defendant (possessed in a vehicle/carried/sold/
offered or exposed for sale/gave/lent/transferred) the foll