Wyatt

While in defendant’s care, defendant’s 14-month-old son died of shock and hemorrhage due to blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen. A jury convicted defendant of involuntary manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (b)) 1 and assault on a child causing death (§ 273ab). The Court of Appeal reversed the section 273ab conviction, finding the evidence insufficient to prove the requisite mens rea for the assault element of the offense.

We conclude the Court of Appeal misapplied the mens rea standard for assault as stated in People v. Williams (2001) 26 Cal.4th 779 [ 111 Cal.Rptr.2d *779 114 , 29 P.3d 197 ] (Williams). Under Williams , a defendant may commit an assault without realizing he is harming the victim, but the prosecution must prove the defendant was aware of facts that would lead a reasonable person to realize that a battery would directly, naturally, and probably result from the defendant’s conduct. Here, substantial evidence established that defendant knew he was striking his young son with his fist, forearm, knee, and elbow, and that he used an amount of force a reasonable person would realize was likely to result in great bodily injury. We therefore reverse…

I concur in the majority opinion under compulsion of this court’s holding in People v. Williams (2001) 26 Cal.4th 779 [ 111 Cal.Rptr.2d 114 , 29 P.3d 197 ] (Williams).

In Williams , a majority of this court defined the mental state of the crime of assault (Pen. Code, § 240) as requiring only that the defendant have “actual knowledge of the facts sufficient to establish that the defendant’s act by its nature will probably and directly result in injury to another” (Williams, supra, 26 Cal.4th at p. 782 ), and as not requiring “a specific intent to cause injury or a subjective awareness of the risk that an injury might occur” (id. at p. 790). I disagreed, concluding that “assault requires proof of an intent to injure another.” (Id. at p. 791 (dis. opn. of Kennard, J.); see also People v. *787 Colantuono (1994) 7 Cal.4th 206, 225-228 [ 26 Cal.Rptr.2d 908 , 865 P.2d 704 ] (cone. & dis. opn. of Kennard, J.).)

Here, the majority applies the definition of the term “assault” that it announced in Williams, supra, 26 Cal.4th 779 , to Penal Code section 273ab, which provides: “Any person who, having the care or custody of a child who is under eight years of age, assaults the child by means…

While in defendant's care, defendant's 14-month-old son died of shock and hemorrhage due to blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen. A jury convicted defendant of involuntary manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. (b)) [1] and assault on a child causing death (§ 273ab). The Court of Appeal reversed the section 273ab conviction, finding the evidence insufficient to prove the requisite mens rea for the assault element of the offense.

We conclude the Court of Appeal misapplied the mens rea standard for assault as stated in People v. Williams (2001) 26 Cal.4th 779 [111 Cal.Rptr.2d 114, 29 P.3d 197 ] ( Williams ). Under Williams , a defendant may commit an assault without realizing he was harming the victim, but the prosecution must prove the defendant was aware of facts that would lead a reasonable person to realize that a battery would directly, naturally, and probably result from the defendant's conduct. Here, substantial evidence established that defendant knew he was striking his young son with his fist, forearm, knee, and elbow, and that he used an amount of force a reasonable person would realize was likely to result in great bodily injury. We therefore reverse…