Penal Codes - Ld 39 - Crimes Against The Justice System

The crime of preventing or dissuading witnesses or victims by intimidation to testify.

To arrest a person for the intimidation of witnesses or victims to testify, the necessary crime elements include:
• any person who knowingly and maliciously prevents or dissuades any witness or victim from attending or giving testimony at any trial, proceeding, or inquiry authorized by law (Penal Code Section 136.1(a)(1))

• any person who knowingly and maliciously attempts to prevent or dissuade any witness or victim from attending or giving testimony at any trial, proceeding, or inquiry authorized by law (Penal Code Section 136.1(a)(2))

• every person who attempts to prevent or dissuade another person who has been the victim of a crime or who is witness to a crime from doing any of the following including but not limited to: 1) making any report of that victimization to any Peace Officer (Penal Code Section 136.1(b)(1)), causing a complaint to be sought or assisting in the prosecution (Penal Code Section 136.1(b)(2)), arresting the suspect (Penal Code Section 136.1(b)(3)).

The crime of intimidating witnesses or victims is a felony.

The crime of preventing or dissuading witnesses or victims from reporting that victimization to any Peace Officer

To arrest a person for the intimidation of witnesses or victims to testify, the necessary crime elements include:• every person who attempts to prevent or dissuade another person who has been the victim of a crime or who is witness to a crime from doing any of the following including but not limited to: 1) making any report of that victimization to any Peace Officer (Penal Code Section 136.1(b)(1)).

The crime of intimidating witnesses or victims is a felony.

A witness (Penal Code Section 136(2)), is any person:
• having knowledge of the existence or nonexistence of facts relating to any crime

• whose declaration under oath is received, or has been received, as evidence for any purpose

• who has reported any crime

• who has been served a subpoena

• who could be believed by any reasonable person to be one of the above

A victim is any natural person with respect to who there is reason to believe that any crime as defined under the laws of this state or any other state or of the United States is being or has been perpetrated or attempted to be perpetrated. (Penal Code Section 136(3))

Malice means an intent to vex, annoy, harm, or injure another person. (Penal Code Section 136(1))

Threats of retaliation.

To arrest a person for threats of retaliation, the necessary crime elements include:
Every person who:
• willfully uses force

• or threatens to use force or violence

• upon the person of a witness to, or a victim of

• a crime or

• any other person, or

• to take, damage, or destroy

• any property of

• any witness, victim, or any other person

• because the witness, victim or other person

• has provided any assistance or information

• to a law enforcement officer or

• to a public prosecutor in a criminal proceeding or

• juvenile court proceeding.

The crime of threats of retaliation is a felony.

The crime of violation of a court order.

To arrest a person for violation of a court order, the necessary crime elements are:
• any person

• willfully disobeying

• the written terms of any process or court order, or out-of-state court order

• lawfully issued by any court

The crime of violation of a court order is a misdemeanor

The crime of resisting, delaying, or obstructing any public officer, peace officer, or emergency technician.

To arrest a person for resisting, delaying, or obstructing any public officer, peace officer, or emergency technician, the necessary crime elements are:
• every person who

• willfully resists, delays, or obstructs

• any public officer, peace officer, or emergency technician

• in the discharge or the attempt to discharge

• any duty of that officer’s office or employment.

The crime of resisting, delaying, or obstructing any public officer, peace officer, or emergency technician is a misdemeanor.

The crime of obstructing or resisting an executive officer.

To arrest a person for obstructing or resisting an executive officer the necessary crime elements are:
Every person who attempts:
• by means of threat or violence

• to deter or prevent

• any executive officer from the performance of that officer’s duties, or

• knowingly resists any executive officer

• by the use of force or violence in the performance of that officer’s duties.

It is a felony to attempt to deter or prevent executive officers from the performance of their duties. This includes a threat of future harm against the officer.

The crime of threatening public officers and employees, and school officials.

To arrest a person for threatening a public officer the necessary crime elements are:

Every person who:
- with the intent to cause,
- attempts to cause, or causes

• any:
- public officer or employee, or
- officer or employee of any public or private educational institution

• to do or refrain from doing

• any act in the performance of their duties

• by means of a threat

• directly communicated to the person

• to inflict an unlawful injury upon that person or that person’s property, and

• it reasonably appears that the threat could be carried out

NOTE: “Directly communicated” includes, but is not limited to, communication by telephone, letter, etc.

It is a felony to use threats to prevent public officers from performing their duties.

The crime of removing or taking a firearm from an officer

To arrest a person for removing or taking a firearm, or attempting to remove or take a firearm from an officer, the necessary crime elements are:
• every person who

• during the commission of any offense described in (Penal Code Section 148(a)(1)) (resisting, delaying, or obstructing any public officer, peace officer, or emergency technician)

• removes or takes a firearm (Penal Code Section 148(c))

• from the person or from the immediate presence of

• a public officer or peace officer

Felony

The crime of attempting to remove or take a firearm from an officer

To prove Penal Code Section 148(d), one or more of the following must occur:
• the officer’s holster strap was unfastened by the defendant (Penal Code Section 148(d)(1))

• the firearm was partially removed from the officer’s holster by the defendant (Penal Code Section 148(d)(2)

• the firearm safety was released by the defendant (Penal Code Section 148(d)(3))

• an independent witness corroborates that the defendant stated that he intended to remove the firearm and that the defendant actually touched the firearm (Penal Code Section 148(d)(4))

• an independent witness corroborates that the defendant actually had his hand on the firearm and tried to take it from the officer who was holding it (Penal Code Section 148(d)(5))

• the defendant’s fingerprint was found on the firearm or holster (Penal Code Section 148(d)(6))

• physical evidence authenticated by a scientifically verifiable procedure established that the defendant touched the firearm (Penal Code Section 148(d)(7))

• in the course of any struggle, the officer’s firearm fell and the defendant attempted to pick it up (Penal Code Section 148(d)(8))

Felony

The crime of removing or taking any weapon other than a firearm from the person or immediate presence of an officer.

To arrest a person for removing or taking any weapon other than a firearm from an officer, the necessary crime elements are:
• every person who

• during the commission of any offense described in Penal Code Section 148(a) (resisting, delaying, or obstructing any public officer, peace officer, or emergency technician)

• removes or takes

• any weapon other than a firearm

• from the person of

• or in the immediate presence of

• a public officer or peace officer

• while that officer is engaged in the performance of the officer’s duties.

The crime of removing or taking any weapon other than a firearm from an officer is a felony.

The crime of attempting to escape, or escaping from the custody of a peace officer after being remanded by a magistrate or judge

The crime of attempting to escape or escaping from custody of a Peace Officer who knows or should know he has been arrested

To arrest a person for attempting to escape, or escaping from the custody of a peace officer, the necessary crime elements are:
• any person who has been

• remanded by a magistrate or judge to the custody of a sheriff, marshal or other police agency, and

• thereafter escapes or attempts to escape from that custody, or

• any person who has been

• lawfully arrested by a peace officer, and

• who knows or reasonably should have known that he/she was arrested, and

• who thereafter escapes or attempts to escape from the peace officer

NOTE: This Penal Code section does not apply to any person confined to any city, county or state jail or prison.

The crime of escape or escaping from the custody of a peace officer is a misdemeanor.

If the escape or attempted escape is by force or violence and causes serious bodily injury to the peace officer, the crime of escape or escaping from the custody of a peace officer is a felony.

The crime of attempting to escape or escaping from a state prison through the use of force or violence.

To arrest a person for attempting to escape, or escaping from a state prison through the use of force or violence, the necessary crime elements are (Penal Code Section 4530(a)):
• Every prisoner confined in a state prison who,
- By force or violence,
- Escapes or attempts to escape and

• every prisoner committed to a state prison who,

• by force or violence,

• escapes or attempts to escape
- while being conveyed to or from such prison or
- any other state prison, or as delineated in Penal Code Section 4350(a)
- while under the custody of prison officials, officers or employees;
- while at work outside or away from
- prison under custody of prison officials, officers, or employees

The crime of attempting to escape or escaping from a state prison without the use of force or violence.

To arrest a person for the crime of attempting to escape or escaping from a state prison without the use of force or violence, the necessary crime elements are (Penal Code Section 4530(b)):
• Every prisoner who

• commits an escape or

• attempts an escape as described in subdivision (a)

• without force or violence

A prisoner’s willful failure to return from temporary release, such as work or education release, at the specified time is considered an escape

The crime of attempting to escape or escaping from a state prison with or without the use of force is a felony.

The crime of escaping from county or city jail or home detention.

To arrest a person for escaping from county jail or city jail or home detention the necessary crime elements are:
Every prisoner who has been:
- arrested and booked for, charged with, or convicted of a misdemeanor, or
- committed as an inebriate under Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 5654, 5656, or 5677, and
- is confined to any county or city jail, prison, or industrial farm, or is authorized for temporary release for work, education or family emergency, or participates in a home detention program pursuant to Penal Code Section 1203.016, and
- who thereafter attempts to escape or escapes from that custody.

Felony.

The crime of attempting to rescue or rescuing a prisoner by one person.

To arrest a person for the crime of attempting to rescue or rescuing, the necessary crime elements are:
• every person who

• rescues or attempts to rescue, or

• aids another in rescuing or attempting to rescue

• any prisoner from any:
- prison,
- road camp,
- jail, or
- officer or person having that prisoner in lawful custody.

The crime of attempting to rescue or rescuing is a felony.

The crime of lynching.

To arrest a person for the crime of lynching, the necessary elements are:
• the taking

• by means of a riot

• of any person

• from the lawful custody of any peace officer

For the crime of lynching to be complete, the person who is taken must be under lawful arrest or legally detained by officers.

NOTE: It is not necessary that people who commit the crime of lynching intend to or actually do harm to the person they have taken.

Every person who participates in a lynching is guilty of a felony. (Penal Code Section 405b)

The crime of presenting a false identification to a peace officer.

In order to arrest a person for presenting a false identification to a peace officer, the necessary crime elements are:
any person who:
• falsely represents or identifies oneself as another person (real or fictitious)

• to a peace officer

• upon a lawful detention or arrest

• to evade the:
- process of the court, or
- proper identification of that person by an investigating officer.

The crime of presenting a false identity to a peace officer is a misdemeanor.

Providing false information to a peace officer at this phase enforcing violations of the vehicle code is a misdemeanor.

False personation of another in private or official capacity; bail or surety; verification, publication or acknowledgement of instrument; acts imposing liability or conferring benefit; punishment.

The crime of falsely reporting a criminal offense.

In order to arrest a person for the crime of falsely reporting a criminal offense, the necessary crime elements are:
every person who:
• reports to any peace officer, district attorney, or deputy district attorney

• that a felony or misdemeanor has been committed

• knowing that the report is false.

The crime of falsely reporting a criminal offense is a misdemeanor.

An emergency is any condition which results in, or could result in, the response of a public official in an authorized emergency vehicle, (e.g., patrol vehicle, ambulance, fire equipment, etc.), or any condition that jeopardizes public safety and results or could result in evacuation. (Penal Code Section 148.3(c))

The crime of falsely reporting an emergency.

Any individual who reports, or causes any report to be made, to any city, county, city and county, or state departments, district, agency, division, commission, or board, that an “emergency” exists, knowing that the report is false, is guilty of a misdemeanor

Any individual who reports, or causes any report to be made, to any city, county, city and county, or state department, district, agency, division, commission, or board, than an “emergency” exists, and who knows that the report is false, and who knows or should know that the response to the report is likely to cause death or great bodily injury, and great bodily injury or death is sustained by any person as a result of the false report, is guilty of a felony.

The crime of falsely reporting a destructive device.

To arrest a person for the crime of falsely reporting a destructive device, the necessary elements are:
Any person who:
• reports to specified personnel

• that a bomb or other explosive

• has been, or will be

• placed or hidden in any public or private place

• knowing that the report is false

The crime of falsely reporting a bomb, or other explosive is a felony.

The crime of unlawful assembly.

To arrest a person for unlawful assembly, the necessary crime elements are:
• two or more persons assembling together

• to do:
- an unlawful act, or
- a lawful act in a violent, boisterous, or tumultuous manner

The unlawful act during an assembly does not have to be violent to substantiate an unlawful assembly (e.g., acts of civil disobedience such as blocking an entry way or occupying an area illegally).

The crime of unlawful assembly is a misdemeanor.

The crime of refusal to disperse.

To arrest a person for refusing to disburse, the necessary elements are:
Two or more persons:
• assembling for the purpose of:
- disturbing the peace, or
- committing any unlawful act, and

• not dispersing on being desired or commanded to do so by a public officer

NOTE: This section applies only to participants in the unlawful assembly.

Anyone who refuses or fails to disperse after being commanded to do so is guilty of a misdemeanor.