People v. Smith

The defendant, Reginald Calvin Smith, was convicted after a jury trial of the offense of assault with a deadly weapon (ADW) upon the person of a peace officer, Penal Code section 245, subdivision (c). Imposition of sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation on condition he serve five months in the county jail.

The incident arose when a line of police officers blocked traffic on a highway. According to the defendant he had been directed by an officer to drive his car forward; he did so and his car inadvertently struck an officer.

The defendant contends the trial court prejudicially misinstructed the jury on the mental state required for the offense. The jury was instructed under former CALJIC No. 9.00 (5th ed. 1988) that assault requires a general criminal intent. The jury sent a note to the court asking whether “the intent to move the vehicle forward, alone constitute^] ‘general criminal intent’ ” or whether an “intent to injure” was required. (Italics added.)

The court did not reread CALJIC No. 9.00, which, inter alia, defined an assault as an attempt to apply physical force upon the person of another. Instead, it read an abbreviated instruction, that the…