Kirkpatrick v. James M.

Opinion

MOSK, J.

We are called upon to determine whether "attempted assault” is a crime in the State of California. We conclude that it is not.

About 10:30 a.m. on the morning of December 7, 1971, Los Angeles Police Officer Sietz and his partner were conducting a field interview with two juveniles loitering in the area of a school. Across the street, some 35 feet away, a crowd of 75 to 100 other juveniles gathered behind a 12-foot high chain link fence enclosing the school yard. The youths taunted the officers, shouted obscenities, and threw miscellaneous items over the fence in the general…