People v. Barney

In People v. Barney (1983) 143 Cal.App.3d. 490, the court held that the "defendant is entitled as a matter of due process to have the time of commission of the offense fixed in order to demonstrate he was elsewhere or otherwise disenabled from its commission." Thus, applying this principle to the facts of that case, the court concluded it was error to instruct the jury that the offense occurred "on or about" February 8, when the People's evidence fixed the commission of the offense to either Saturday, February 7, or Sunday, February 8, to the exclusion of any other time. (Id. at pp. 497-498.)