California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Dixie, G057688 (Cal. App. 2020):
But defendant did not challenge the instruction in the trial court proceedings. (People v. Samaniego (2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 1148, 1163 [party forfeits challenge to instructions that correctly state the law even if the instructions are misleading in the particular case].) To the contrary, defendant's counsel said he would agree to the modified jury instructions if the court added his requested special instruction regarding the amount of force that can be used during a citizen's arrest. The court added defendant's requested instruction, and defendant's counsel agreed to the modified CALCRIM No. 1600 instructions requested by the prosecutor. We nevertheless address the merits because defendant contends the court's modification violated his constitutional rights and his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to request a proper version of the instruction. While the court erred by modifying the instruction with the challenged language, the error was harmless. We accordingly do not address defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.