Bradley

In 2006, we affirmed the convictions of appellants, Omar Bradley, Amen Rahh, and John Johnson II, for misappropriation and misuse of public funds under Penal Code section 424. Appellants were former high officials of the City of Compton (Compton or City). 1 Appellants were alleged to have misappropriated and misused public funds by (1) charging personal expenses to their City credit cards and (2) “double-billing” the City for their travel expenses by obtaining cash advances for the expenses and then, instead of paying for the expenses with cash advanced, charging such expenses to the City credit card.

More than five years later, the Supreme Court returned the case to us to reconsider it in light of Stark v. Superior Court (2011) 52 Cal.4th 368 [ 128 Cal.Rptr.3d 611 , 257 P.3d 41 ] (Stark), which holds that section 424 requires “that the defendant knew, or was criminally negligent in failing to know, the legal requirements that governed the act or omission.” (Stark, at p. 377.) Without the benefit of Stark , the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the scienter required for a violation of section 424. With respect to Johnson and Rahh, the error was harmless beyond a…