Lawson

—Defendant became involved in the sale of accounts receivable. In doing so, he allegedly violated several provisions of the Corporations Code. He appeals the judgment following his multiple count conviction for violation of sections 25110/255.40 (sale of unqualified securities), and sections 25401/25540 (making untrue statements in the sale of securities). The issues on appeal have a broad application in criminal law:

After the trial in this matter, our high court resolved the first question in a similar case. We will apply the rule of People v. Figueroa (1986) 41 Cal. 3d 714 [ 224 Cal.Rptr. 719 , 715 P.2d 680 ], i.e., instructing as a matter of law that an element of the crime has been established constitutes an impermissible partial directed verdict. Although the court in Figueroa did not decide the applicable standard of prejudice for such error, we will find reversal is required without regard to prejudice in this case. However, we emphasize per se reversal may not be required under different circumstances.

The Facts

Briefly, the facts in this case are as follows: In September 1981, defendant started a factoring business known as “Freedom Funding.” Freedom Funding…