People v. Garziano

Opinion

ABBE, J.

*

May persons who commit crimes while demonstrating at a medical clinic that provides abortions, among other things, to its patients, escape criminal responsibility by invoking the defense of necessity? No.

The three appellants in this case were found by a jury to have engaged in criminal conduct while participating in such a demonstration at a family planning clinic. Appellants and their fellow demonstrators were successful in preventing the clinic from conducting its normal business during the demonstration.

Each appellant testified that his or her conduct was aimed at preventing any woman from obtaining an abortion. They claim their moral convictions on the subject of abortion justify their criminal behavior. Their avowed purpose was to impose their beliefs on all others and to interfere with any pregnant woman’s right to make her own decision on whether to interrupt the pregnancy no matter at what stage of the pregnancy. The position appellants take is that they may commit crimes with impunity because of the moral correctness of their convictions about abortion. We disagree.

When a person commits a criminal offense, he or she must suffer the penal consequences. A rare exception to this principle arises under the court created defense of necessity. However, the defense of necessity has no application to abortion protesters who commit crimes to achieve their stated goal of preventing all abortions.

The necessity defense has been recognized in appellate court decisions in California despite the absence of any statutory articulation of this defense and rulings from the California Supreme Court that the common law is not a part of the criminal law in California. (See, e.g.,

Keeler

v.

Superior Court

(1970) 2 Cal.3d 619, 632 [87 Cal.Rptr. 481, 470 P.2d 617, 40 A.L.R.3d 420].)

[243]

In People