Whenever a defendant is convicted of a crime or attempt to commit a crime which is distinguished into degrees, the jury, or the court if a jury trial is waived, must find the degree of the crime or attempted crime of which he is guilty. Upon the failure of the jury or the court to so determine, the degree of the crime or attempted crime of which the defendant is guilty, shall be deemed to be of the lesser degree.
Cal. Penal Code § 1157
The Verdict or Finding
Applied in 22 court decisions — leading case 25 Cal. 3d 522 - People v. Eric J. (1979)
Most recently applied in Stanley v. Superior Court (May 2012)
Amended by Stats. 1978, Ch. 1166.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.