CALCRIM No. 2624. Threatening a Witness After Testimony or Information Given (Pen. Code, § 140(a))

Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2024 edition)

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2624.Threatening a Witness After Testimony or Information Given
(Pen. Code, § 140(a))
The defendant is charged [in Count ] with (using force/ [or]
threatening to use force) against a witness [in violation of Penal Code
section 140(a)].
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must
prove that:
1. <insert name/description of person allegedly targeted>
gave (assistance/ [or] information) to a (law enforcement officer/
public prosecutor) in a (criminal case/juvenile court case);
[AND]
2. The defendant willfully (used force/ [or] threatened to use force
or violence against <insert name/description of person
allegedly targeted>/ [or] threatened to take, damage, or destroy
the property of <insert name/description of person
allegedly targeted>) because (he/she) had given that (assistance/
[or] information)(;/.)
<Give the following language if the violation is based on a threat>
[3. The defendant consciously disregarded a substantial risk that
(his/her) conduct would be understood as [a] threat[s];
AND
4. A reasonable person in a similar situation with similar knowledge
would interpret the threat, in light of the context and
surrounding circumstances, as a serious expression of intent to
commit an act of unlawful (force or violence/taking, damage or
destruction of property).]
Someone commits an act willfully when he or she does it willingly or on
purpose.
[An officer or employee of (a/an) (local police department[,]/ [or] sheriff’s
office[,]/ [or] <insert title of agency of peace offıcer
enumerated in Pen. Code, § 13519(b)>) is a law enforcement officer.]
[A lawyer employed by (a/an/the) (district attorney’s office[,]/ [or]
Attorney General’s office[,]/ [or] city (prosecutor’s/attorney’s) office) to
prosecute cases is a public prosecutor.]
[The People do not need to prove that the threat was communicated to
<insert name/description of person allegedly targeted> or that
(he/she) was aware of the threat.]
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New January 2006; Revised August 2012, March 2021, March 2024
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
AUTHORITY
• Elements. Pen. Code, § 140(a).
• “Witness” Defined. Pen. Code, § 136(2).
• “Victim” Defined. Pen. Code, § 136(3).
• “Public Prosecutor” Defined. Gov. Code, §§ 26500, 12550, 41803.
• “Law Enforcement Officer” Defined. Pen. Code, § 13519(b).
• Threat Need Not Be Communicated to Target. People v. McLaughlin (1996) 46
Cal.App.4th 836, 842 [54 Cal.Rptr.2d 4].
• Reasonable Person Standard. People v. Lowery (2011) 52 Cal.4th 419, 422 [128
Cal.Rptr.3d 648, 257 P.3d 72].
• First Amendment Requires Recklessness as to Threat. Counterman v. Colorado
(2023) 600 U.S. 66, 69 [143 S.Ct. 2106, 216 L.Ed.2d 775].
SECONDARY SOURCES
2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against
Governmental Authority, § 9.
6 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 140,
Challenges to Crimes, § 140.02; Ch. 142, Crimes Against the Person,
§ 142.11A[1][a] (Matthew Bender).
2625-2629. Reserved for Future Use
CRIMES AGAINST GOVERNMENT CALCRIM No. 2624
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