Does a court have a duty to instruct a defendant on certain defenses and their relevance to the charged offense?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Wright, H044844 (Cal. App. 2019):

elements of the charged offense." (People v. Sedeno (1974) 10 Cal.3d 703, 716 (Sedeno), overruled on another ground by People v. Breverman (1998) 19 Cal.4th 142, 175.) However, "[u]nlike the rule obliging the court to instruct on lesser included offenses and to give requested instructions whenever there is 'any evidence deserving of any consideration whatsoever' [citation], the duty to give instructions, sua sponte, on particular defenses and their relevance to the charged offense arises only if it appears that the defendant is relying on such a defense, or if there is substantial evidence supportive of such a defense and the defense is not inconsistent with the defendant's theory of the case." (Sedeno, supra, at p. 716.)

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