Wright

This case comes to us on remand from the Supreme Court for reconsideration in the light of People v. Williams (2001) 26 Cal.4th 779 [ 111 Cal.Rptr.2d 114 , 29 P.3d 197 ] (hereafter Williams).

A jury convicted defendant of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, a pickup truck, (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1); counts I and II). He was sentenced to state prison for an aggregate term of three years.

The convictions arose out of two incidents in which the defendant drove his pickup truck close to persons with whom he had contentious relations. The defendant attempted to put his intent in issue with proposed instructions that embodied the claim he intended to frighten his adversaries and therefore his conduct amounted to no more than reckless driving.

The trial court rejected the defendant’s instructions. It instructed the jury in the language of CALJIC No. 9.00 (1994 rev.), which defines the mental state for assault as the intentional commission of an “act that by its nature would probably and directly result in the application of physical force on another person . . . .” The jury sent several notes to the court that raised questions about the scienter required for…