Section 2653 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

[A person employed by
<insert name of agency that employs
peace offıcer, e.g., “the Department of Fish and Wildlife”> is a peace officer
if
<insert description of facts necessary to make employee a
peace offıcer, e.g., “designated by the director of the agency as a peace
offıcer”>.]
[An officer or employee of
<insert name of state or local
government agency that employs public offıcer> is a public officer.]
[The duties of (a/an)
<insert title of peace or public offıcer>
include
<insert job duties>.]
[Taking a photograph or making an audio or video recording of a (peace
officer/ [or] public officer) while the officer is in a public place or the
person taking the photograph or making the recording is in a place
where he or she has the right to be is not, by itself, a crime.]
<When lawful performance is an issue, give the following paragraph and
Instruction 2670, Lawful Performance: Peace Offıcer.>
[A peace officer is not lawfully performing his or her duties if he or she
is (unlawfully arresting or detaining someone/ [or] using unreasonable or
excessive force in his or her duties). Instruction 2670 explains (when an
arrest or detention is unlawful/ [and] when force is unreasonable or
excessive).]
New January 2006; Revised February 2012, August 2016
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
If there is sufficient evidence of self-defense or defense of another, the court has a
sua sponte duty to instruct on the defense. Give bracketed element 5 and any
appropriate defense instructions. (See CALCRIM Nos. 3470–3477.)
In addition, the court has a sua sponte duty to instruct on defendant’s reliance on
self-defense as it relates to the use of excessive force. (People v. White (1980) 101
Cal.App.3d 161, 167–168 [161 Cal.Rptr. 541].) If excessive force is an issue, the
court has a sua sponte duty to instruct the jury that the defendant is not guilty of
the offense charged, or any lesser included offense in which lawful performance is
an element, if the defendant used reasonable force in response to excessive force.
(People v. Olguin (1981) 119 Cal.App.3d 39, 46–47 [173 Cal.Rptr. 663].) On
request, the court must instruct that the prosecution has the burden of proving the
lawfulness of the arrest beyond a reasonable doubt. (People v. Castain (1981) 122
Cal.App.3d 138, 145 [175 Cal.Rptr. 651].) If lawful performance of a peace officer
is an issue, give the bracketed paragraph on lawful performance and the appropriate
CALCRIM No. 2653
CRIMES AGAINST GOVERNMENT
538

Cal.App.3d 417, 421 [286 Cal.Rptr. 684].
•
Unlawful Arrest or Act by Officer. Pen. Code, § 148(f); Franklin v. Riverside
County (1997) 971 F.Supp. 1332, 1335–1336; People v. Curtis (1969) 70 Cal.2d
347, 354 [74 Cal.Rptr. 713, 450 P.2d 33]; Susag v. City of Lake Forest (2002) 94
Cal.App.4th 1401, 1409 [115 Cal.Rptr.2d 269].
•
Delaying Officer From Performing Duties. People v. Allen (1980) 109
Cal.App.3d 981, 985–986, 987