Section 2610 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

prosecutor[,]/ [or] probation or parole officer[,]/ [or] correctional
officer[,]/ [or] judicial officer)(;/.)]
[OR
• Who has been served with a subpoena issued under the authority
of any state or federal court.]]
[A person is about to be called as a witness (if he or she knows or has
been told that he or she will be called as a witness [,]/ [or] if he or she
knows material information relating to the issues in a case that has been
or may be filed).]
[Information is material if it is significant or important.]
[(A/The) (district attorney[,]/ [or] deputy district attorney[,]/ [or] city
attorney[,]/ [or] deputy city attorney[,]/ [or] Attorney General[,]/ [or]
deputy attorney general[,]/ [or]
<insert title of peace offıcer
included in Pen. Code, § 830 et seq.>) is a law enforcement official.]
[The (witness/ [or] person giving information) does not need to (have
accepted the bribe[,]/ have been influenced by the bribe[,]/ [or] have
intended to give the (testimony/information) the defendant sought).]
[Offering a bribe does not require specific words or behavior, as long as
the language used and the circumstances clearly show an intent to bribe.
[The thing offered does not need to actually be given, exist at the time it
is offered, or have a specific value.]]
New January 2006
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
Give the bracketed sentence that begins with “The (witness/person giving
information) does not need” if the evidence shows the witness did not accept the
bribe or follow through on the bribe.
Give the bracketed definition of “offering a bribe” if the prosecution is pursuing this
theory. Give the bracketed sentence that begins, “The thing offered does not need to
actually,” on request.
AUTHORITY
•
Elements. Pen. Code, § 137(a).
•
Witness Defined. Pen. Code, § 136(2).
•
Bribe Defined. Pen. Code, § 7, subd. 6.
CALCRIM No. 2610
CRIMES AGAINST GOVERNMENT
496

•
Corruptly Defined. Pen. Code, § 7, subd. 3.
•
Law Enforcement Official Defined. Pen. Code, § 137(e).
•
About to Be Called as a Witness. People v. Broce (1977) 76 Cal.App.3d 71,
75–76 [142 Cal.Rptr. 628].
•
Meaning of Understanding or Agreement. People v. Pic’l (1982) 31 Cal.3d 731,
738–740 [183 Cal.Rptr. 685, 646 P.2d 847]; People v. Diedrich (1982) 31 Cal.3d
263, 273–274 [182 Cal.Rptr. 354, 643 P.2d 971]; People v. Gliksman (1978) 78
Cal.App.3d 343, 346–350 [144 Cal.Rptr. 451].
•
Intent Requirement. People v. Gliksman (1978) 78 Cal.App.3d 343, 346–350
[144 Cal.Rptr. 451].
•
Offering a Bribe. People v. Britton (1962) 205 Cal.App.2d 561, 564 [22
Cal.Rptr. 921].
RELATED ISSUES
Extortion Distinguished
Extortion is bribery with the additional element of coercion. Accordingly, one
cannot be guilty of receiving a bribe and extortion in the same transaction. (People
v. Powell (1920) 50 Cal.App. 436, 441 [195 P. 456].)
Witness
A witness need not have information that is actually true or that relates to charges
that result in c