California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Taylor, B255513 (Cal. App. 2015):
The trial court's instruction did not include the recent amendment to section 11352, requiring the additional element that transportation be "for sale." ( 11352, subds. (a) & (c).) "[A]bsent a saving clause, a criminal defendant is entitled to the benefit of a change in the law during the pendency of his appeal." (People v. Babylon (1985) 39 Cal.3d 719, 722; In re Estrada (1965) 63 Cal.2d 740, 745.) No savings clause was included in the amendments to section 11352. (Stats. 2013, ch. 504, 1.) Therefore, the statute as amended at the time of appellant's trial provided that transportation was a crime only if the prosecution established beyond a reasonable doubt that the transportation was for sale. Because the jury instruction did not include the new "for sale" element, the trial court did not properly instruct the jury.
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