CALCRIM No. 1532. Unlawfully Causing a Fire (Pen. Code, § 452)
Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2024 edition)
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1532.Unlawfully Causing a Fire (Pen. Code, § 452)
The defendant is charged [in Count ] with unlawfully causing a
fire [in violation of Penal Code section 452].
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must
prove that:
1. The defendant set fire to[,] [or] burned[,] [or caused the burning
of] (a structure/forest land/property);
AND
2. The defendant did so recklessly.
<Alternative A - Recklessness: General Definition>
[A person acts recklessly when (1) he or she is aware that his or her
actions present a substantial and unjustifiable risk of causing a fire, (2)
he or she ignores that risk, and (3) ignoring the risk is a gross deviation
from what a reasonable person would have done in the same situation.]
<Alternative B - Recklessness: Voluntary Intoxication>
[A person acts recklessly when (1) he or she does an act that presents a
substantial and unjustifiable risk of causing a fire but (2) he or she is
unaware of the risk because he or she is voluntarily intoxicated.
Intoxication is voluntary if the person willingly used any intoxicating
drink, drug, or other substance knowing that it could produce an
intoxicating effect.]
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.
[A structure is any (building/bridge/tunnel/power plant/commercial or
public tent).]
[Forest land means brush-covered land, cut-over land, forest, grasslands,
or woods.]
[Property means personal property or land other than forest land.]
[A person does not unlawfully cause a fire if the only thing burned is his
or her own personal property, unless he or she acts with the intent to
defraud, or the fire also injures someone else or someone else’s structure,
forest land, or property.]
[Arson and unlawfully causing a fire require different mental states. For
arson, a person must act willfully and maliciously. For unlawfully
causing a fire, a person must act recklessly.]
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New January 2006
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give an instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
If the prosecution’s theory is that the defendant did not set the fire but “caused” the
fire, the court has a sua sponte duty to instruct on aiding and abetting. (People v.
Sarkis (1990) 222 Cal.App.3d 23, 28 [272 Cal.Rptr. 34].) See CALCRIM Nos.
400-403.
Depending upon the theory of recklessness the prosecutor is alleging, the court
should instruct with alternative A or B.
If the defendant is also charged with arson, the court may wish to give the last
bracketed paragraph, which explains the difference in intent between unlawfully
causing a fire and arson. (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 the point that defense counsel’s objection to
instruction on lesser included offense constituted invited error; People v. Schwartz
(1992) 2 Cal.App.4th 1319, 1324 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 816].)
Related Instructions
If it is also alleged that the fire caused great bodily injury or burned an inhabited
structure or property, see CALCRIM No. 1530, Unlawfully Causing a Fire: Great
Bodily Injury, and CALCRIM No. 1531, Unlawfully Causing a Fire: Inhabited
Structure.
AUTHORITY
• Elements. Pen. Code, § 452.
• Structure, Forest Land Defined. Pen. Code, § 450.
• Difference Between This Crime and Arson. People v. Hooper (1986) 181
Cal.App.3d 1174, 1182 [226 Cal.Rptr. 810].
• 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].
RELATED ISSUES
See the Related Issues section under CALCRIM No. 1515, Arson.
SECONDARY SOURCES
2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against
Property, §§ 268-276.
CALCRIM No. 1532 ARSON
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6 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 143, Crimes
Against Property, § 143.11 (Matthew Bender).
1533-1549. Reserved for Future Use
ARSON CALCRIM No. 1532
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© Judicial Council of California.
