CALCRIM No. 902

The defendant is charged [in Count] with assault on a member of

the United States Armed Forces [in violation of Penal Code section

241.8].

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

prove that:

1. The defendant did an act that by its nature would directly and

probably result in the application of force to a person;

2. The defendant did that act willfully;

3. When the defendant acted, (he/she) was aware of facts that would

lead a reasonable person to realize that (his/her) act would

directly, naturally, and probably result in the application of force

to someone;

4. When the defendant acted, (he/she) had the present ability to

apply force to a person;

5. The person assaulted was a member of the United States Armed

Forces at the time of the assault;

[AND]

6. The defendant knew the other person was a member of the

United States Armed Forces and assaulted the other person

because of that person’s service(;/.)

<Give element 7 when instructing on self-defense or defense of another .>

[AND

7. The defendant did not act (in self-defense/ [or] in defense of

someone else).]

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.

The terms application of force and apply force mean to touch in a

harmful or offensive manner. The slightest touching can be enough if it

is done in a rude or angry way. Making contact with another person,

including through his or her clothing, is enough. The touching does not

have to cause pain or injury of any kind.

[The touching can be done indirectly (by causing an object [or someone

else] to touch the other person/ [or] by touching something held by or

attached to the other person).]

[The People are not required to prove that the defendant actually

touched someone.]

The People are not required to prove that the defendant actually

intended to use force against someone when (he/she) acted.

No one needs to actually have been injured by the defendant’s act. But if

someone was injured, you may consider that fact, along with all the

other evidence, in deciding whether the defendant committed an assault[,

and if so, what kind of assault it was].

A <insert description, e.g., “private in the United States

Army”> is a member of the United States Armed Forces.

A person commits an assault because of someone’s service in the Armed

Forces if:

1. That person is biased against the assaulted person based on the

assaulted person’s military service;

AND

2. That bias caused the person to commit the alleged assault.

If the defendant had more than one reason to commit the alleged assault,

the bias described here must have been a substantial motivating factor. A

substantial factor is more than a trivial or remote factor. However, it does

not need to be the only factor that motivated the assault.

[Voluntary intoxication is not a defense to assault.]

New January 2006; Revised March 2017, February 2025