People v. Coch

Decided July 1, 1879

California Supreme Court · decided 1879-07-01

The defendant was convicted of arson, and moved for a new trial, which was denied, whereupon he appealed from the judgment and from the order denying his motion for a new trial.’

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“"Whenever a crime is distinguished into degrees, the jury, if they convict the defendant, must find the degree of the crime of which he is guilty.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including In re Booth for a Writ of Habeas Corpus

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1879-07-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 13 later decisions — most recently March 1985

12 state decisions

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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By the Court :

¶1The defendant was indicted for the crime of arson. The Court instructed the jury that if they found the defendant guilty the form of their verdict should be: “ We, the jury in the above cause, find the defendant guilty as charged in the indictment.”

¶2Arson is divided into two degrees. (Penal Code, secs. 453, 454.) It is provided by the Penal Code, sec. 1157, that “ whenever a crime is distinguished into degrees, the jury, if they convict the defendant, must find the degree of the crime of which he is guilty.” The instruction was erroneous.

¶3Judgment and order reversed, and cause remanded for a new trial.