A jury found defendant Hal Lee Flood guilty of the offense of evading a vehicle operated by a pursuing peace officer resulting in serious bodily injury, a violation of Vehicle Code section 2800.3. *fn1 To establish the offense set forth in that statute, the prosecution must prove, among other things, that the motor vehicle that the defendant was attempting to elude was operated by a "peace officer" as defined in the Penal Code. When instructing the jury regarding the elements of the offense, however, the trial court did not advise the jury that it should determine whether the persons in the pursuing motor vehicle were "peace officers," but instead informed the jury - in conformity with the uncontradicted evidence that had been presented at trial - that the police officers in that vehicle were peace officers, thus effectively removing this element of the crime from the jury's consideration. We granted review to decide whether the trial court's action in this regard amounted to constitutional error, and, if so, whether such an error requires reversal of defendant's conviction whether or not the error actually was prejudicial under the circumstances of the case.
