What is the test for sufficiency of evidence to support a conviction under section 240 of the California Criminal Code?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Williams, E054765 (Cal. App. 2013):

"'When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we review the entire record in the light most favorable to the judgment to determine whether it contains substantial evidencethat is evidence that is reasonable, credible, and of solid valuefrom which a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citation] '[T]he relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citations.] '[I]t is the jury, not the appellate court which must be convinced of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citation.]" (People v. Lewis (2009) 46 Cal.4th 1255, 1289-1290, fn. omitted.)

"Section 240 defines assault: 'An assault is an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another.'" (People v. Griggs (1989) 216 Cal.App.3d 734, 739.) "Although temporal and spatial considerations are relevant to a defendant's 'present ability' under section 240, it is the ability to inflict injury on the present occasion that is determinative, not whether injury will necessarily be the instantaneous result of the defendant's conduct." (People v. Chance (2008) 44 Cal.4th 1164, 1171.)

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