What is the test for an instruction on flight from the crime scene?

Both Rios and the People cite the principle that "'a flight instruction "is proper where the evidence shows that the defendant departed the crime scene under circumstances suggesting that his movement was motivated by a consciousness of guilt." [Citations.] "'[F]light requires neither the physical act of running nor the reaching of a far-away haven. [Citation.] Flight manifestly does require, however, a purpose to avoid being observed nor arrested.'" [Citations.]'" (People v. Smithey (1999) 20 Cal.4th 936, 982; People v. Bradford (1997) 14 Cal.4th 1005, 1055.)

As other cases cited by Rios make clear, however, the concept of flight includes more than immediate flight from the crime scene. For example, in People v. Mason (1991) 52 Cal.3d 909, the defendant's flight took place four weeks after the commission of murder, and he argued "that his flight was so remote from the charged offenses that it 'was of marginal probative value, if any.'" (Id. at p. 941.) The court responded that "[c]ommon sense... suggests that a guilty person does not lose the desire to avoid apprehension for offenses as grave as multiple murders after only a few weeks. Nor do our decisions create inflexible rules about the required proximity between crime and flight. Instead, the facts of each case determine whether it is reasonable to infer that flight shows consciousness of guilt." (Ibid.)

In People v. Scott (1959) 176 Cal.App.2d 458, the defendant's flight did not occur until almost a year after the disappearance of his wife. He had recently been indicted for other offenses, but an accusation that he killed his wife had been made, and he reasonably could have anticipated an investigation and indictment for her murder. (Id. at pp. 506-507.)

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In People v. Bradford, supra, 14 Cal.4th 1005, there was sufficient evidence to support an instruction on flight where, after committing the crime, the defendant packed his belongings, made arrangements to stay with someone out of town, and "repeatedly pleaded with his roommate to drive him out of town." (Id. at p. 1055.)