Section 2621 | 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 the bracketed sentence that begins with “The People do not need to prove
that” if the evidence shows that the testimony or information of the alleged target
was not affected.
AUTHORITY
•
Elements. Pen. Code, § 137(b).
•
Fraud Defined. People v. Pugh (2002) 104 Cal.App.4th 66, 72 [127 Cal.Rptr.2d
770].
•
Law Enforcement Official Defined. Pen. Code, § 137(e).
•
Specific Intent Required. People v. Womack (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 926, 929–930
[47 Cal.Rptr.2d 76].
LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES
The misdemeanor offense of knowingly inducing a false statement to a law
enforcement official in violation of Penal Code section 137(c) is not a lesser
included offense of section 137(b) because the latter offense lacks the element that
the defendant must actually cause a false statement to be made. (People v. Miles
(1996) 43 Cal.App.4th 575, 580 [51 Cal.Rptr.2d 52].)
RELATED ISSUES
Deceiving a Witness
Deceiving a witness is a separate crime under Penal Code section 133:
Every person who practices any fraud or deceit, or knowingly makes or exhibits
any false statement, representation, token, or writing, to any witness or person
about to be called as a witness upon any trial, proceeding, inquiry, or
investigation whatever, authorized by law, with intent to affect the testimony of
such witness, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
SECONDARY SOURCES
2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against
Governmental Authority, § 12.
CRIMES AGAINST GOVERNMENT
CALCRIM No. 2621
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