Section 2571 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

[
<insert type of explosive from Health & Saf. Code, § 16460>
is an explosive.]
[A destructive device is
<insert definition from Pen. Code,
§ 16460>.]
[
<insert type of destructive device from Pen. Code, § 16460>
is a destructive device.]
[The term[s] (explosive/ [and] destructive device) (is/are) defined in
another instruction.]
[A common carrier is a person or business that publicly offers to carry
persons, property, or messages. [A person or business that publicly offers
to carry only telegraphic messages is not a common carrier.]]
[
<insert type or name of common carrier> is a common
carrier.]
New January 2006; Revised February 2012
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
Depending on the device or substance used, give the bracketed definitions of
“explosive” or “destructive device,” inserting the appropriate definition from Penal
Code section 16460, unless the court has already given the definition in other
instructions. In such cases, the court may give the bracketed sentence stating that
the term is defined elsewhere. If the case involves a specific device listed in Health
and Safety Code section 12000 or Penal Code section 16460, the court may instead
give the bracketed sentence stating that the listed item “is an explosive” or “is a
destructive device.” For example, “A grenade is a destructive device.” However, the
court may not instruct the jury that the defendant used a destructive device. For
example, the court may not state that “the defendant used a destructive device, a
grenade,” or “the device used by the defendant, a grenade, was a destructive
device.” (People v. Dimitrov (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 18, 25–26 [39 Cal.Rptr.2d
257].)
Similarly, in the definition of “common carrier,” the court may instruct generally
that a type of vehicle is a common carrier. For example, “a Greyhound bus is a
common carrier.” The court may not instruct that the particular vehicle in the case
was a common carrier. For example, the court may not instruct that “the defendant
was on a common carrier, a Greyhound bus,” or “the vehicle in this case, a
Greyhound bus, is a common carrier.”
If the device used is a bomb, the court may insert the word “bomb” in the bracketed
definition of destructive device without further definition. (People v. Dimitrov, supra,
WEAPONS
CALCRIM No. 2571
441

33 Cal.App.4th at p. 25.) Appellate courts have held that the term “bomb” is not
vague and is understood in its “common, accepted, and popular sense.” (People v.
Quinn (1976) 57 Cal.App.3d 251, 258 [129 Cal.Rptr. 139]; People v. Dimitrov,
supra, 33 Cal.App.4th at p. 25.) If the court wishes to define the term “bomb,” the
court may use the following definition: “A bomb is a device carrying an explosive
charge fused to blow up or detonate under certain conditions.” (See People v. Morse
(1992) 2 Cal.App.4th 620, 647, fn. 8 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 343].)
AUTHORITY
•
Elements. Pen. Code, § 18725.
•
Explosive Defined. Healt