What is the test for a defendant to be found guilty of a lesser charge under section 69 of the Criminal Code?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Titman, C085354 (Cal. App. 2019):

"To determine whether a lesser offense is necessarily included in the charged offense, one of two tests (called the 'elements' test and the 'accusatory pleading' test) must be met. The elements test is satisfied when ' "all the legal ingredients of the corpus delicti of the lesser offense [are] included in the elements of the greater offense." [Citation.]' [Citations.] Stated differently, if a crime cannot be committed without also necessarily committing a lesser offense, the latter is a lesser included offense within the former. [Citations.] [] Under the accusatory pleading test, a lesser offense is included within the greater charged offense ' "if the charging allegations of the accusatory pleading include language describing the offense in such a way that if committed as specified the lesser offense is necessarily committed." [Citation.]' [Citations.]" (People v. Lopez (1998) 19 Cal.4th 282, 288-289.)

A violation of section 69 can occur in two circumstances. " 'The first is attempting by threats or violence to deter or prevent an officer from performing a duty imposed by law; the second is resisting by force or violence an officer in the performance of his or her duty.' [Citation.]" (People v. Smith (2013) 57 Cal.4th 232, 240.) "The second way of violating section 69 expressly requires that the defendant resist the officer 'by the use of force or violence,' and it further requires that the officer was acting lawfully at the time of the offense. [Citation.]" (Id. at p. 241.)

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