CALCRIM No. 2902. Damaging Phone or Electrical Line (Pen. Code, § 591)
Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2024 edition)
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2902.Damaging Phone or Electrical Line (Pen. Code, § 591)
The defendant is charged [in Count ] with (taking down[,]/ [or]
removing [,]/ [or] damaging[,]/ [or] disconnecting/ [or] cutting/[or]
obstructing/severing/making an unauthorized connection to) a (telegraph/
telephone/cable television/electrical) line [in violation of Penal Code
section 591].
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must
prove that:
<Alternative 1A - removed, damaged, or obstructed>
[1. The defendant unlawfully (took down[,]/ [or] removed[,]/ [or]
damaged[,]/ [or] obstructed/ [or] disconnected/ [or] cut) [part of] a
(telegraph/telephone/cable television/electrical) line [or mechanical
equipment connected to the line];]
<Alternative 1B - severed>
[1. The defendant unlawfully severed a wire of a (telegraph/telephone/
cable television/electrical) line;]
<Alternative 1C - unauthorized connection>
[1. The defendant unlawfully made an unauthorized connection with
[part of] a line used to conduct electricity [or mechanical equipment
connected to the line];]
AND
2. The defendant did so maliciously.
Someone acts maliciously when he or she intentionally does a wrongful
act or when he or she acts with the unlawful intent to annoy or injure
someone else.
[As used here, mechanical equipment includes a telephone.]
New January 2006; Revised August 2015, September 2019
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
crime.
The statute uses the term “injure.” (Pen. Code, § 591.) The committee has replaced
the word “injure” with the word “damage” because the word “injure” generally
refers to harm to a person rather than to property.
The statute uses the phrase “appurtenances or apparatus.” (Pen. Code, § 591.) The
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committee has chosen to use the more understandable “mechanical equipment” in
place of this phrase.
Give the bracketed sentence that states “mechanical equipment includes a telephone”
on request. (People v. Tafoya (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 220, 227 [111 Cal.Rptr.2d 681];
People v. Kreiling (1968) 259 Cal.App.2d 699, 704 [66 Cal.Rptr. 582].)
AUTHORITY
• Elements. Pen. Code, § 591.
• Maliciously Defined. Pen. Code, § 7, subd. 4; People v. Lopez (1986) 176
Cal.App.3d 545, 550 [222 Cal.Rptr. 101].
• Applies to Damage to Telephone. People v. Tafoya (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 220,
227; People v. Kreiling (1968) 259 Cal.App.2d 699, 704 [66 Cal.Rptr. 582].
• “Obstruct” Not Unconstitutionally Vague. Kreiling v. Field (9th Cir. 1970) 431
F.2d 502, 504.
• Applies to Theft of Service. People v. Trieber (1946) 28 Cal.2d 657, 661 [171
P.2d 1].
• General Intent Crime. People v. Quarles (2018) 25 Cal.App.5th 631, 636 [236
Cal.Rptr.3d 49].
SECONDARY SOURCES
2 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Crimes Against
Property §§ 304, 305.
2903-2914. Reserved for Future Use
CALCRIM No. 2902 VANDALISM, LOITERING, AND TRESPASS
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