CALCRIM No. 926. Battery Causing Injury to Specified Victim Not a Peace Officer (Pen. Code, §§ 242, 243(b)-(c)(1))
Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2024 edition)
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926.Battery Causing Injury to Specified Victim Not a Peace
Officer (Pen. Code, §§ 242, 243(b)-(c)(1))
The defendant is charged [in Count ] with battery against (a/an)
<insert title specified in Pen. Code, § 243(c)(1)> [in violation
of Penal Code section 243].
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this charge, the People must
prove that:
1. The defendant willfully [and unlawfully] touched
<insert name> in a harmful or offensive manner;
<Alternative 2A - specified person performing duties>
[2. When the defendant acted, <insert name> was a
<insert title specified in Pen. Code, § 243(c)(1)> and
was performing the duties of (a/an) <insert title
specified in Pen. Code, § 243(c)(1)>;]
<Alternative 2B - nurse or doctor>
[2. When the defendant used that force, <insert name>
was a (nurse/medical doctor) who was giving emergency medical
care outside of a hospital, clinic, or other health care facility;]
[AND]
3. When the defendant acted, (he/she) knew or reasonably should
have known, that <insert name> was (a/an)
<insert title specified in Pen. Code, § 243(c)(1)> who
was performing (his/her) duties(;/.)
<Give element 4 when the defendant is charged with Pen. Code,
§ 243(c)(1).>
[AND
4. <insert name> suffered injury as a result of the force
used(;/.)]
<Give element 5 when instructing on self-defense or defense of another.>
[AND
(4/5). The defendant did not act (in self-defense/ [or] in defense of
someone else).]
Someone commits an act willfully when he or she does it willingly or on
purpose. It is not required that he or she intend to break the law, hurt
someone else, or gain any advantage.
Making contact with another person, including through his or her
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clothing, is enough to commit a battery.
[The duties of (a/an) <insert title specified in Pen. Code,
§ 243(c)(1)> include <insert appropriate list of job duties
from statutory definition of professions, if available>.]
[It does not matter whether <insert name> was actually on
duty at the time.]
[An injury is any physical injury that requires professional medical
treatment. The question whether an injury requires such treatment
cannot be answered simply by deciding whether or not a person sought
or received treatment. You may consider those facts, but you must decide
this question based on the nature, extent, and seriousness of the injury
itself.]
[The touching can be done indirectly by causing an object [or someone
else] to touch the other person.]
New January 2006
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give an instruction defining the elements of the
crime. This instruction should be used when the alleged victim is not a peace
officer. If the alleged victim is a peace officer, use CALCRIM No. 945, Battery
Against Peace Offıcer.
If there is sufficient evidence of self-defense or defense of another, the court has a
sua sponte duty to instruct on the defense. Give bracketed element 2, the bracketed
words “and unlawfully” in element 1, and any appropriate defense instructions. (See
CALCRIM Nos. 3470-3477.)
If the alleged victim is a doctor or nurse, give element 2B. Otherwise give element
2A.
If the defendant is charged under Penal Code section 243(c)(1), give bracketed
element 4 and the definition of “injury.” If the defendant is charged with
misdemeanor battery under Penal Code section 243(b), do not give element 4 or the
definition of “injury”
Give the appropriate list of job duties for the alleged victim’s profession from the
current Penal Code section, if one is provided. Emergency medical technician,
nurse, custodial officer, lifeguard, traffic officer, and animal control officer are
defined in Penal Code section 243(f). Firefighter is defined in Penal Code section
245.1. If a definition is provided in the statute, it should be given. (See People v.
Lara (1994) 30 Cal.App.4th 658, 669 [35 Cal.Rptr.2d 886].)
Give the final bracketed paragraph if indirect touching is an issue.
ASSAULTIVE AND BATTERY CRIMES CALCRIM No. 926
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AUTHORITY
• Elements. Pen. Code, §§ 242, 243(b)-(c)(1); see People v. Martinez (1970) 3
Cal.App.3d 886, 889 [83 Cal.Rptr. 914] [harmful or offensive touching].
• Willful Defined. Pen. Code, § 7(1); People v. Lara (1996) 44 Cal.App.4th 102,
107 [51 Cal.Rptr.2d 402].
• Injury Defined. Pen. Code, § 243(f)(6); People v. Longoria (1995) 34
Cal.App.4th 12, 17 [40 Cal.Rptr.2d 213].
COMMENTARY
People v. Longoria (1995) 34 Cal.App.4th 12, 17 [40 Cal.Rptr.2d 213], explains the
meaning of injury as defined in the statute:
It is the nature, extent, and seriousness of the injury - not the inclination or
disinclination of the victim to seek medical treatment - which is determinative.
A peace officer who obtains “medical treatment” when none is required, has not
sustained an “injury” within the meaning of section 243, subdivision (c). And a
peace officer who does not obtain “medical treatment” when such treatment is
required, has sustained an “injury” within the meaning of section 243,
subdivision (c). The test is objective and factual.
LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES
• Assault. Pen. Code, § 240.
• Assault on Specified Victim. Pen. Code, § 241(b).
• Battery. Pen. Code, § 242.
• Misdemeanor Battery on Specified Victim. Pen. Code, § 243(b).
• Resisting Officer. Pen. Code, § 148.
SECONDARY SOURCES
1 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against the
Person, §§ 13-15, 21-23, 70-74.
6 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 142, Crimes
Against the Person, § 142.12 (Matthew Bender).
927-934. Reserved for Future Use
CALCRIM No. 926 ASSAULTIVE AND BATTERY CRIMES
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© Judicial Council of California.
