CALCRIM No. 966. Shooting at Uninhabited House or Unoccupied Motor Vehicle (Pen. Code, § 247(b))
Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2023 edition)
Download PDF
966.Shooting at Uninhabited House or Unoccupied Motor Vehicle
(Pen. Code, § 247(b))
The defendant is charged [in Count ] with shooting at an
(uninhabited house[,]/ [or] uninhabited building[,]/ [or] unoccupied
motor vehicle) [in violation of Penal Code section 247(b)].
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must
prove that:
[1.] The defendant willfully shot a firearm at an (uninhabited
house[,]/ [or] uninhabited building[,]/ [or] unoccupied motor
vehicle)(;/.)
<Give element 2 when consent of the owner is an issue; see Bench
Notes.>
[AND]
[2. The defendant did the shooting without the owner’s permission(;/
.)]
<Give element 3 when instructing on self-defense or defense of another.>
[AND
3. 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.
[A house includes any (structure/garage/office/ <insert other
structure>) that is attached to the house and functionally connected with
it.]
[A motor vehicle includes a (passenger vehicle/motorcycle/motor scooter/
bus/school bus/commercial vehicle/truck tractor and trailer/
<insert other type of motor vehicle>).]
[A firearm is any device designed to be used as a weapon, from which a
projectile is discharged or expelled through a barrel by the force of an
explosion or other form of combustion.]
[The term[s] (firearm/ <insert other term>) (is/are) defined in
another instruction to which you should refer.]
New January 2006; Revised January 2007, February 2012
697
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
Consent of the owner of the vehicle or building is an affirmative defense. (Pen.
Code, § 247(b); People v. Lam (2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 1297, 1301 [19 Cal.Rptr.3d
431].) If there is sufficient evidence of consent, the court has a sua sponte duty to
instruct on the defense. Give bracketed element 2.
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 3 and any
appropriate defense instructions. (See CALCRIM Nos. 3470-3477.)
Give the relevant bracketed definitions unless the court has already given the
definition in other instructions. In such cases, the court may give the bracketed
sentence stating that the term is defined elsewhere.
Related Instructions
CALCRIM No. 965, Shooting at Inhabited House or Occupied Motor Vehicle.
AUTHORITY
• Elements. Pen. Code, § 247(b).
• Firearm Defined. Pen. Code, § 16520.
• Motor Vehicle Defined. Veh. Code, § 415.
SECONDARY SOURCES
1 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against the
Person, §§ 49-50.
6 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 144, Crimes
Against Order, § 144.01[1][i] (Matthew Bender).
CALCRIM No. 966 ASSAULTIVE AND BATTERY CRIMES
698
© Judicial Council of California.
