Steele

Defendant Douglas Steele appeals after a jury convicted him of escape from state prison without force or violence. (Pen. Code, § 4530, subd. (b).) He contends the trial court erred when it refused to instruct on the defense of duress. We find the trial court properly refused the duress instruction and therefore affirm the judgment.

Facts

Department of Corrections Officer Douglas Roe was supervising the return of inmates from a yard at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville when he saw the defendant, Douglas Steele, break from a group of inmates and run towards the perimeter fences. Officer Roe immediately radioed the guards in Towers 2 and 3 and informed them that an inmate was attempting to escape.

Steele ran straight for the 12-foot inner perimeter fence, scaled it, flattened the razor wire at the top, and climbed over. As he was running towards the outer perimeter fence, the guard in Tower 3 fired a warning shot between the two fences. Undaunted, Steele continued to run and scaled the outer perimeter fence. As he was flattening out the razor wire at the top of the outer fence the guard in Tower 3 shot Steele in the buttocks and he fell to the ground. Prison…