Frye

Defendant was convicted in a jury trial of driving or taking a vehicle (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)), and was placed on probation for three years. On appeal he challenges the instructions given to the jury differentiating the charged offense from the lesser included offense of joyriding (Pen. Code, § 499b). We find the instructions defective, and we reverse the conviction.

Facts

Dr. Manas Ray parked and locked his employer’s company-owned car in the parking lot at the Watergate Apartment complex in Emeryville about 4:30 p.m. on February 11, 1993. He last saw the car about 6 p.m. The next morning, at 7 a.m., he found the car missing and called the police.

Later that day, about 11 a.m., Officer Albrandt of the El Cerrito police department noticed a white Oldsmobile drive by with a broken left rear wing window and a piece of glass still in the window. Defendant was driving the car, and there were two passengers. Officer Albrandt followed the car until it pulled into a market parking lot and stopped. The three occupants got out of the car and went into the market. A minute later they walked back out. Defendant, wearing a blue-striped shirt, walked in one direction, while…