CALCRIM No. 1502. Arson: Inhabited Structure or Property (Pen. Code, § 451(b))

Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2025 edition)

Download PDF
Bg48b
1502.Arson: Inhabited Structure or Property (Pen. Code, § 451(b))
The defendant is charged [in Count ] with arson that burned an
(inhabited structure/[or] inhabited property) [in violation of Penal Code
section 451(b)].
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must
prove that:
1. The defendant set fire to or burned [or (counseled[,]/ [or]
helped[,]/ [or] caused) the burning of] (a structure/ [or] property);
2. (He/She) acted willfully and maliciously;
AND
3. The fire burned an (inhabited structure/[or] inhabited property).
To set fire to or burn means to damage or destroy with fire either all or
part of something, no matter how small the part.
Someone commits an act willfully when he or she does it willingly or on
purpose.
Someone acts maliciously when he or she intentionally does a wrongful
act or when he or she acts with the unlawful intent to defraud, annoy, or
injure someone else.
As used here, someone acts maliciously when he or she intentionally does
a wrongful act under circumstances that the direct, natural, and highly
probable consequences would be the burning of the (structure/ [or]
property) or when he or she acts with the unlawful intent to defraud,
annoy, or injure someone else.
A (structure/[or] property) is inhabited if someone uses it as a dwelling,
whether or not someone is inside at the time of the fire. An (inhabited
structure/[or] inhabited property) does not include the land on which it
is located.
[Property means personal property or land other than forest land.]
New January 2006; Revised February 2013, August 2016, March 2017, September
2019, April 2020, February 2025
1089
Bg48c
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give an instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
Related Instructions
If attempted arson is charged, do not instruct generally on attempts but give
CALCRIM No. 1520, Attempted Arson. (Pen. Code, § 455.)
AUTHORITY
• Elements. Pen. Code, § 451(b).
• “Inhabited” Defined. Pen. Code, § 450(d); People v. Jones (1988) 199
Cal.App.3d 543 [245 Cal.Rptr. 85].
• Inhabitant Must Be Alive at Time of Arson. People v. Vang (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th
377, 382-387 [204 Cal.Rptr.3d 455].
• “Structure” Defined. Pen. Code, § 450(a).
• “Maliciously” Defined. Pen. Code, § 450(e); People v. Atkins (2001) 25 Cal.4th
76, 88 [104 Cal.Rptr.2d 738, 18 P.3d 660]; In re V.V. (2011) 51 Cal.4th 1020,
1031, fn. 6 [125 Cal.Rptr.3d 421, 252 P.3d 979].
• “To Burn” Defined. People v. Haggerty (1873) 46 Cal. 354, 355; In re Jesse L.
(1990) 221 Cal.App.3d 161, 166-167 [270 Cal.Rptr. 389].
LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES
• Arson. Pen. Code, § 451.
• Attempted Arson. Pen. Code, § 455.
• Unlawfully Causing a Fire. People v. Hooper (1986) 181 Cal.App.3d 1174, 1182
[226 Cal.Rptr. 810], disapproved of in People v. Barton (1995) 12 Cal.4th 186
[47 Cal.Rptr.2d 569, 906 P.2d 531] on its holding that failure to instruct on this
crime as a lesser included offense of arson was invited error because defense
counsel objected to such instruction; People v. Schwartz (1992) 2 Cal.App.4th
1319, 1324 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 816].
RELATED ISSUES
Inhabited Apartment
Defendant’s conviction for arson of an inhabited structure was proper where he set
fire to his estranged wife’s apartment several days after she had vacated it. Although
his wife’s apartment was not occupied, it was in a large apartment building where
many people lived; it was, therefore, occupied for purposes of the arson statute.
(People v. Green (1983) 146 Cal.App.3d 369, 378-379 [194 Cal.Rptr. 128].)
House Inhabited at Time of Fire
Defendant’s conviction for arson of an inhabited structure was proper where he set
fire to his own home. The house was occupied for purposes of the arson statute
CALCRIM No. 1502 ARSON
1090
Bg48d
because the defendant lived there at the time of the fire although he did not intend
to return. (People v. Buckner (2023) 97 Cal.App.5th 724, 728-730 [315 Cal.Rptr.3d
769].)
Dual Convictions Prohibited
A single act of arson cannot result in convictions under different subdivisions of
Penal Code section 451. (People v. Shiga (2019) 34 Cal.App.5th 466, 475 [246
Cal.Rptr.3d 198].)
SECONDARY SOURCES
2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against
Property, §§ 268-276.
5 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 91,
Sentencing, § 91.47[1] (Matthew Bender).
6 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 143, Crimes
Against Property, § 143.11 (Matthew Bender).
1503-1514. Reserved for Future Use
ARSON CALCRIM No. 1502
1091

© Judicial Council of California.