CA · jury_instructions
CALCRIM No. 355
Defendant’s Right Not to Testify
A defendant has an absolute constitutional right not to testify. He or she
may rely on the state of the evidence and argue that the People have
failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Do not consider,
for any reason at all, the fact that the defendant did not testify. Do not
discuss that fact during your deliberations or let it influence your
decision in any way.
New January 2006; Revised February 2026*
* Denotes changes only to bench notes and other commentaries.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.ca.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-20
- Edition
- calcrim-2026
- Content hash
10b8b1c978cca9a5e2fef72262c2382e0f1c2213936236beb58e007ef8f6f248
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