FORECITE California
by Tom Lundy
Favorably Modify CALCRIM
and CALJIC
CALCRIM and CALJIC have numerous deficiencies. They frequently do not keep up with changes in the law, fail to cover hundreds of issues, omit required sua sponte instructions, and contain problems not yet identified by the appellate courts. FORECITE tackles these shortcomings head on by:
- Critically reviewing existing instructions in light of evolving
principles to identify problems even before the reported cases do.
- Identifying sua sponte duties not in CALCRIM and CALJIC.
- Providing advance notice of coming CALCRIM and CALJIC changes.
- Evaluating instructions for problems not yet identified by
appellate courts or by CALCRIM or CALJIC.
- Tracking the “hidden reversal’ potential of pending cases in the
California and U.S. Supreme Courts.
- Helping you preserve federal constitutional issues for review in
the California appellate courts and on federal habeas corpus.
- Providing California’s only complete and up-to-date compendium of recognized lesser included offenses.

The password-protected FORECITE website is heavily indexed, extensively cross-linked, and easily-navigated. It contains thousands of pages of argument, authority, and alternate instructions for both CALCRIM and CALJIC. Recent revisions to CALCRIM are also documented with insightful FORECITE commentary. Together with frequent case law updates and twice annual newsletters (available for download), the FORECITE website is a wealth of information right at your fingertips. The information is also available on a CD-ROM that is updated twice annually. The bulk of the material is devoted to alternate instructions, points and authorities, and usage notes. They are all written so you can copy and paste directly from the website or CD into your own documents. Use these criminal arguments and instructions to spot additional issues, advance more persuasive arguments, and favorably modify standard jury instructions. Since 1990, defense lawyers have been using Tom Lundy’s FORECITE California for:
-
Pretrial strategy and negotiation. Obtain dismissal or reduction of charges before trial, be more effective in plea negotiations, set up issues, focus investigations, and more.
- General research. Determine the substantive law
applicable to your case.
- Jury instructions. Identify potential issues and save time with pre-drafted instructions and supportive points and authorities.
FORECITE accomplishes all this by
critically annotating CALJIC with over 3,000 jury instructions, issues,
practice notes, motions, and briefs.
FORECITE California is updated twice annually with a newsletter and replacement CD-ROM, and new case law is added bimonthly. For $295, you will receive the book, most recent CD-ROM, plus a year of access to the website.
The book and CD-ROM are sold on a trial basis, and may be returned within 30 days without obligation. The update service may be cancelled at any time.
Updated quarterly. Book price: $295.00 per year of service
H7
Reviews
“Judges don’t normally grant anything but CALJIC instructions. But the way FORECITE is written, I’ve had 100% success.”
— Andrew Radel, Marina del Rey
"For all criminal practitioners who want to stay
a step ahead of the judge and prosecutor."
— F.J. Bardsley, San Diego County
Related Titles:
Ninth Circuit Criminal Law Reporter
More Criminal Law
Publications
Updated 01/09/12
