CALCRIM No. 2656

§ 148(a))

The defendant is charged [in Count] with (resisting[,]/ [or]

obstructing[,]/ [or] delaying) a (peace officer/public officer/emergency

medical technician) in the performance or attempted performance of

(his/her) duties [in violation of Penal Code section 148(a)].

To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must

prove that:

1. <insert name, excluding title> was (a/an) (peace

officer/public officer/emergency medical technician) lawfully

performing or attempting to perform (his/her) duties as a (peace

officer/public officer/emergency medical technician);

2. The defendant willfully (resisted[,]/ [or] obstructed[,]/ [or]

delayed) <insert name, excluding title> in the

performance or attempted performance of those duties;

AND

3. When the defendant acted, (he/she) knew, or reasonably should

have known, that <insert name, excluding title> was

(a/an) (peace officer/public officer/emergency medical technician)

performing or attempting to perform (his/her) duties.

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 person who is employed as a police officer by <insert

name of agency that employs police offıcer> is a peace officer.]

[A person employed by <insert name of agency that employs

peace offıcer , e.g., “the Department of Fish and Wildlife”> is a peace officer

if <insert description of facts necessary to make employee a

peace offıcer , e.g., “designated by the director of the agency as a peace

offıcer”> .]

[An officer or employee of <insert name of state or local

government agency that employs public offıcer> is a public officer.]

[An emergency medical technician is someone who holds a valid

certificate as an emergency medical technician.]

[The duties of (a/an) <insert title of peace offıcer , public

offıcer , or emergency medical technician> include <insert job

duties>.]

[Taking a photograph or making an audio or video recording of a (peace

officer/public officer/emergency medical technician) while the officer is in a

public place or the person taking the photograph or making the

recording is in a place where he or she has the right to be is not, by

itself, a crime.]

<When lawful performance is an issue, give the following paragraph and

CALCRIM No. 2670, Lawful Performance: Peace Offıcer .>

[A peace officer is not lawfully performing his or her duties if he or she

is (unlawfully arresting or detaining someone/ [or] using unreasonable or

excessive force in his or her duties). Instruction 2670 explains (when an

arrest or detention is unlawful/ [and] when force is unreasonable or

excessive).]

[[The People allege that the defendant (resisted[,]/ [or] obstructed[,]/ [or]

delayed) <insert name, excluding title> by doing the

following: <insert description of acts when multiple acts

alleged>.] Y ou may not find the defendant guilty unless you all agree

that the People have proved that the defendant committed at least one of

the alleged acts of (resisting[,]/ [or] obstructing[,]/ [or] delaying) a (peace

officer/public officer/emergency medical technician) who was lawfully

performing his or her duties, and you all agree on which act (he/she)

committed.]

[If a person intentionally goes limp, requiring an officer to drag or carry

the person in order to accomplish a lawful arrest, that person may have

willfully (resisted[,]/ [or] obstructed[,]/ [or] delayed) the officer if all the

other requirements are met.]

New January 2006; Revised June 2007, August 2016, October 2021, February

2026*

* Denotes changes only to bench notes and other commentaries.