Does the Attorney General have the authority to plead or prove the exact time of the crime?

Ordinarily, the prosecution need not plead or prove the exact time of commission of an alleged crime. (People v. Barney (1983) 143 Cal.App.3d 490, 497.) A limited exception applies, however, when the defendant urges an alibi defense and the exact time of the commission of the crime becomes critically essential to establishing an alibi. Here the defense was not predicated on an alibi or lack of opportunity. As a consequence, the "on or about" instruction did not "deflect the jury's attention from a crucial temporal element for which the defendant had an alibi." (People v. Richardson (2008) 43 Cal.4th 959, 1028.) We agree with the Attorney General that nothing in the challenged

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