CALCRIM No. 592

<If gross vehicular manslaughter is a charged offense, give alternative A; if

this instruction is being given as a lesser included offense, give alternative

B.>

<Introductory Sentence: Alternative A—Charged Offense>

[The defendant is charged [in Count] with gross vehicular

manslaughter [in violation of Penal Code section 192(c)(1)].]

<Introductory Sentence: Alternative B—Lesser Included Offense>

[Gross vehicular manslaughter is a lesser crime than gross vehicular

manslaughter while intoxicated.]

To prove that the defendant is guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter,

the People must prove that:

1. The defendant (drove a vehicle/operated a vessel);

2. While (driving that vehicle/operating that vessel), the defendant

committed (a/an) (misdemeanor[,]/ [or] infraction[,]/ [or]

otherwise lawful act that might cause death);

3. The defendant committed the (misdemeanor[,]/ [or] infraction[,]/

[or] otherwise lawful act that might cause death) with gross

negligence;

3. AND

4. The defendant’s grossly negligent conduct caused the death of

another person.

Gross negligence involves more than ordinary carelessness, inattention,

or mistake in judgment. A person acts with gross negligence when:

1. He or she acts in a reckless way that creates a high risk of death

or great bodily injury;

1. AND

2. A reasonable person would have known that acting in that way

would create such a risk.

In other words, a person acts with gross negligence when the way he or

she acts is so different from how an ordinarily careful person would act

in the same situation that his or her act amounts to disregard for human

life or indifference to the consequences of that act.

[Gross negligence may include, based on the totality of the

circumstances, any of the following:

• Participating in a sideshow; (and/or)

• Participating in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway;

(and/or)

• Speeding over 100 miles per hour.]

[A sideshowis an event in which two or more persons block or impede

traffic on a highway, for the purpose of performing motor vehicle stunts,

motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle exhibitions of speed, or

reckless driving, for spectators.]

[Participating in a motor vehicle speed contest includes a motor vehicle

race against another vehicle, a clock, or another timing device.]

[Great bodily injury means significant or substantial physical injury. It is

an injury that is greater than moderate harm.]

[A person facing a sudden and unexpected emergency situation not

caused by that person’s own negligence is required only to use the same

care and judgment that an ordinarily careful person would use in the

same situation, even if it appears later that a different course of action

would have been safer.]

[An act causes death if the death is the direct, natural, and probable

consequence of the act and the death would not have happened without

the act. A natural and probable consequence is one that a reasonable

person would know is likely to happen if nothing unusual intervenes. In

deciding whether a consequence is natural and probable, consider all of

the circumstances established by the evidence.]

[There may be more than one cause of death. An act causes death only if

it is a substantial factor in causing the death. A substantial factor is more

than a trivial or remote factor. However, it does not need to be the only

factor that causes the death.]

[The People allege that the defendant committed the following

(misdemeanor[s]/ [and] infraction[s]): <insert

misdemeanor[s]/ infraction[s]>.

Instruction[s] tell[s] you what the People must prove in

order to prove that the defendant committed <insert

misdemeanor[s]/infraction[s]>.]

[The People [also] allege that the defendant committed the following

otherwise lawful act(s) that might cause death: <insert

act[s] alleged>.]

[Y ou may not find the defendant guilty unless all of you agree that the

People have proved that the defendant committed at least one alleged

(misdemeanor[,]/ [or] infraction[,]/ [or] otherwise lawful act that might

HOMICIDE CALCRIM No. 592

cause death) and you all agree on which (misdemeanor[,]/ [or]

infraction[,]/ [or] otherwise lawful act that might cause death) the

defendant committed.]

[The People have the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that

the defendant committed gross vehicular manslaughter. If the People

have not met this burden, you must find the defendant not guilty of that

crime. Y ou must consider whether the defendant is guilty of the lesser

crime[s] of <insert lesser offense[s]>.]

New January 2006; Revised February 2015, September 2020, September 2023,

October 2025