Section 3404 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

different locations, during the same time frame, if he or she maintains
substantial ongoing relationships with each person and lives with each
person for significant periods.]
[A person is considered to be the (mother/father) of another person’s
child if the alleged male parent is presumed under law to be the natural
father.
<insert name of presumed father> is presumed under
law to be the natural father of
<insert name of child>.]
[A traumatic condition is the result of an injury if:
1. The traumatic condition was the natural and probable
consequence of the injury;
2. The injury was a direct and substantial factor in causing the
condition;
AND
3. The condition would not have happened without the injury.
A natural and probable consequence is one that a reasonable person
would know is likely to happen if nothing unusual intervenes. In
deciding whether a consequence is natural and probable, consider all of
the circumstances established by the evidence.
A substantial factor is more than a trivial or remote factor. However, it
does not need to be the only factor that resulted in the traumatic
condition.]
New January 2006; Revised June 2007, August 2012, August 2014, February 2015,
February 2016, March 2018, October 2021
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give an 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 3 and any
appropriate defense instructions. (See CALCRIM Nos. 3470–3477.)
If causation is at issue, the court has a sua sponte duty to instruct on proximate
cause. (People v. Bernhardt (1963) 222 Cal.App.2d 567, 590–591 [35 Cal.Rptr.
401]; People v. Cervantes (2001) 26 Cal.4th 860, 865–874 [111 Cal.Rptr.2d 148, 29
P.3d 225].) Give the bracketed paragraph that begins, “A traumatic condition is the
result of an injury if . . . .”
Give CALCRIM No. 3404, Accident, on request if there is sufficient evidence that
an alleged victim’s injuries were caused by an accident. (People v. Anderson (2011)
CALCRIM No. 840
ASSAULTIVE AND BATTERY CRIMES
562