Section 335 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

that a witness could be an accomplice. (People v. Tobias (2001) 25 Cal.4th 327, 331
[106 Cal.Rptr.2d 80, 21 P.3d 758]; People v. Guiuan (1998) 18 Cal.4th 558, 569 [76
Cal.Rptr.2d 239, 957 P.2d 928].)
“Whether a person is an accomplice is a question of fact for the jury unless the
facts and the inferences to be drawn therefrom are undisputed.” (People v. Coffman
and Marlow (2004) 34 Cal.4th 1, 104 [17 Cal.Rptr.3d 710, 96 P.3d 30].) When the
court concludes that the witness is an accomplice as a matter of law or the parties
agree about the witness’s status as an accomplice, do not give this instruction. Give
CALCRIM No. 335, Accomplice Testimony: No Dispute Whether Witness Is
Accomplice.
If a codefendant’s testimony tends to incriminate another defendant, the court must
give an appropriate instruction on accomplice testimony. (People v. Avila (2006) 38
Cal.4th 491, 562 [43 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 133 P.3d 1076]; citing People v. Box (2000) 23
Cal.4th 1153, 1209 [99 Cal.Rptr.2d 69, 5 P.3d 130]; People v. Alvarez (1996) 14
Cal.4th 155, 218 [58 Cal.Rptr.2d 385, 926 P.2d 365].) The court must also instruct
on accomplice testimony when two codefendants testify against each other and
blame each other for the crime. (Id. at 218–219).
When the witness is a codefendant whose testimony includes incriminating
statements, the court should not instruct that the witness is an accomplice as a
matter of law. (People v. Hill (1967) 66 Cal.2d 536, 555 [58 Cal.Rptr. 340, 426 P.2d
908].) Instead, the court should give this instruction, informing the jury that it must
decide whether the testifying codefendant is an accomplice. In addition, the court
should instruct that when the jury considers this testimony as it relates to the
testifying codefendant’s defense, the jury should evaluate the testimony using the
general rules of credibility, but if the jury considers testimony as incriminating
evidence against the non-testifying codefendant, the testimony must be corroborated
and should be viewed with caution. (See People v. Coffman and Marlow, supra, 34
Cal.4th at p. 105.)
Do not give this instruction if accomplice testimony is solely exculpatory or neutral.
(People v. Smith (2017) 12 Cal.App.5th 766, 778–780 [218 Cal.Rptr.3d 892] [telling
jurors that corroboration is required to support neutral or exonerating accomplice
testimony was prejudicial error].)
If the court concludes that the corroboration requirement applies to an out-of-court
statement, use the word “statement” throughout the instruction. (See discussion in
Related Issues section below.)
In a multiple codefendant case, if the corroboration requirement does not apply to
all defendants, insert the names of the defendants for whom corroboration is
required where indicated in the first sentence.
If the witness was an accomplice to only one or some of the crimes he or she
testified about, the corroboration requirement only applies to those crimes and not to
other crimes he or she may have testified about. (People v. Wynkoop