In People v. Sakarias (2000) 22 Cal.4th 596, the California Supreme Court elaborated on the test for harmless error where a jury instruction removes an element of an offense ("sharp instrument") from the jury's consideration. There the court said: "We may affirm the jury's verdicts despite the error if, but only if, it appears beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the particular verdict at issue. In particular, we may affirm despite the error if the jury that rendered the verdict at issue could not rationally have found the omitted element unproven; the error is harmless, that is, if the record contains no substantial evidence supporting a factual theory under which the elements submitted to the jury were proven but the omitted element was not." (Sakarias, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 625.)