Penal Code § 347 PC – Poisoning Food, Drink, Medicine or Water in California

California Penal Code § 347 PC makes it a crime to poison a food, drink, medicine or water supply that you know is going to be consumed by human beings. This is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison, or longer if a victim suffers a serious injury or death.

The full language of the statute reads that:

347. (a) (1) Every person who willfully mingles any poison or harmful substance with any food, drink, medicine, or pharmaceutical product or who willfully places any poison or harmful substance in any spring, well, reservoir, or public water supply, where the person knows or should have known that the same would be taken by any human being to his or her injury, is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, four, or five years.

(2) Any violation of paragraph (1) involving the use of a poison or harmful substance that may cause death if ingested or that causes the infliction of great bodily injury on any person shall be punished by an additional term of three years.

(b) Any person who maliciously informs any other person that a poison or other harmful substance has been or will be placed in any food, drink, medicine, pharmaceutical product, or public water supply, knowing that such report is false, is guilty of a crime punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year.

(c) The court may impose the maximum fine for each item tampered with in violation of subdivision (a).

Penalties

A person who willfully poisons is guilty of a felony. Punishment is imprisonment in the California state prison for:

• Two years,
• Four years, or
• Five years.

An additional three years in prison is imposed if the poisoning causes death or great bodily injury.

The offense of making a false report regarding poisoning is punishable by imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year.

Defenses

Luckily, there are several legal defenses if a person commits a crime under this section. These include showing that an accused party did not act:

• Willfully,
• With knowledge, and/or
• With malice.

Our California criminal defense attorneys will highlight the following in this article:

• 1. What is the crime of poisoning food, drink, medicine or water?
  • 1.1 Willfully poisoning
  • 1.2 Maliciously Making a False Report
• 2. Are there legal defenses to Penal Code 347 PC?
  • 2.1 No Willful Act
  • 2.2 No Knowledge
  • 2.3 No Malice
• 3. What is the punishment?
• 4. Related Offenses
  • 4.1 Vandalism – Penal Code 594
  • 4.2 Involuntary Manslaughter – Penal Code 192(b)
  • 4.3 Trespass – Penal Code 602

Penal Code 347 PC pertains to the act of poisoning food, drink, medicine, and water.

1. What is the crime of poisoning food, drink, medicine or water?

California Penal Code 347 PC makes it a crime to:

1. Willfully poison certain things or substances; or
2. Maliciously make a false report that something has been poisoned.

1.1. Willfully Poisoning

Penal Code 347(a)(1) states that a person is guilty of a felony if he:

1. “Willfully” mixes any poison or harmful substance with any food, drink, medicine, pharmaceutical product, or public water supply; and,
2. Knows, or should have known, that a person would take or consume the poisoned substance.¹

California law defines a “willful” act as one done with a purpose or willingness.² There is no requirement that the act is committed with any use of force or intent to violate the law or to injure another person.³

As to number two above, knowledge is determined based on the facts of a given case.

1.2. Maliciously Making a False Report

Under California Penal Code 347(b), it is a crime if a person:

1. “Maliciously” informs another person that poison or a harmful substance has been, or will be placed in, a food, drink, medicine, pharmaceutical product, or public water supply; and,
2. Knows that the report is false.

California law states that “maliciously” means an act done:

• With a wish to annoy or injure someone: or,
• With an intent to do a wrongful act.⁴

Under this code section, malice and knowledge are determined or shown based on all of the facts in a given case.

2. Are there legal defenses to Penal Code 347 PC?

A person accused of poisoning or making a false report, may raise a legal defense on his behalf. A good defense can often get the charge reduced or even dismissed. Please note, though, that is critical for an accused to hire an attorney to raise a defense on his behalf.

Three common defenses to PC 347 accusations are:

1. No willful act;
2. No knowledge; and/or,
3. No Malice.

(Other potential defenses include misconduct by police officers, such as an illegal search or a coerced confession.)

2.1. No Willful Act

This is a defense to a poisoning accusation under Penal Code 347(a)(1). Recall that the poisoning must be done willfully, or with a specific purpose. Therefore, a defendant could attempt to show that he is not guilty under this code section because his actions were not willful (e.g., he poisoned something by accident).

2.2. No Knowledge.

This is a defense to accusations under both Penal Code 347(a)(1) and Penal Code 347(b). Recall that, per section (a)(1), a defendant must poison something, AND, know (or, should have known) that another person would consume the poisoned substance. A defense, therefore, is that an accused never knew, or even should have known, that a person would get poisoned.

Likewise, a PC 347(b) showing requires that a defendant made a malicious report, AND, knew that the report was false. An accused, therefore, can raise the defense that he did not know his report or information was false. For example, maybe he made a statement regarding a poisoning based upon the reasonable belief that the statement was true.

2.3. No Malice

This is a defense to an accusation brought under Penal Code 347(b). Recall that a person is guilty under this code section only if he made a false report with malice. Again, this means doing an act with the intent to annoy, injure, or to do something wrongful. A solid defense then becomes that a defendant is innocent of a PC 347(b) charge because he did not act “maliciously.”

Penal Code 347 PC is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.

3. What is the punishment?

The offenses of poisoning and making a false report receive different penalties.

A person that commits poisoning is guilty of a felony. The act is punishable by a state prison sentence for:

• Two years,
• Four years, or
• Five years.⁵

If the above crime resulted in a person’s death or in great bodily injury, the defendant receives an additional term of three years in jail.⁶

A defendant guilty of making a false report under 347(b) is guilty of a crime punishable by a jail term not to exceed one year.⁷ The term is served in either:

• The state prison; or,
• The county jail.⁸

4. Related Offenses

There are three crimes related to the poisoning acts. These other illegal acts are:

1. Vandalism – Penal Code 594;
2. Involuntary manslaughter – Penal Code 192(b); and,
3. Trespass – Penal Code 602.

4.1. Vandalism – Penal Code 594

Penal Code 594 PC, California’s vandalism and graffiti law, prohibits maliciously doing any of the following things to someone else’s property:

• Defacing it with graffiti or other written material,
• Damaging it, or
• Destroying it.⁹

The penalties for California vandalism charges generally depend on the dollar value of the damage that was done.

If the damage is $400 or more, vandalism is a wobbler under California law. The penalties include:

• A jail sentence of between one and three years; and/or
• A fine of up to $10,000, or even more if the damage is very extensive.¹⁰

If the damage is worth less than $400, vandalism is punishable by misdemeanor penalties of:

• Up to one year in county jail; and/or,
• A maximum fine of $1,000.¹¹

4.2. Involuntary Manslaughter – Penal Code 192(b)

California Penal Code 192(b) PC makes it a crime in California to commit involuntary manslaughter.

Involuntary manslaughter occurs when one person kills another unintentionally, either

1. While committing a crime that is not an inherently dangerous felony; or,
2. While committing a lawful act that might produce death, without due caution.¹²

Under Penal Code 192(b), a key feature of California’s involuntary manslaughter law is that it does not require intent to kill another person—unlike Penal Code 187 murder, which requires “malice aforethought.”¹³

Please note that California’s involuntary manslaughter law does not include actions that fit the above definition but involve a car. Those will be charged under California’s vehicular manslaughter laws.¹⁴

Involuntary manslaughter is a felony under California law. Possible penalties include:

• Two, three, or four years in jail; and/or,
• A fine of up to $10,000.¹⁵

4.3. Trespass – Penal Code 602

California Penal Code 602 PC prohibits the crime known as criminal trespass. A person commits this crime when he:

1. Enters, or remains on, someone else’s property; and,
2. Does so without permission or a right to do so.¹⁶

In most cases, California trespass is a misdemeanor punishable by:

• Up to six months in county jail; and/or,
• A fine of up to $1,000.¹⁷

However, certain kinds of trespass in California may lead only to infraction charges, with penalties consisting of only a small fine.¹⁸

A person guilty of “aggravated trespass” will face felony charges and could receive a jail sentence of:

• 16 months;
• Two years; or,
• Three years.

“Aggravated trespass” is when a person:

1. Threatens to injure someone; and then,
2. Enters their home or workplace without permission.¹⁹

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