Does a jury have a duty to find a defendant guilty only of the lesser included charge of gross vehicular manslaughter?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Anderson, A149546 (Cal. App. 2019):

Appellant is correct that "when the evidence is sufficient to support a finding of guilt of both the offense charged and a lesser included offense, the jury must be instructed that if they entertain a reasonable doubt as to which offense has been committed, they must find the defendant guilty only of the lesser offense." (People v. Dewberry (1959) 51 Cal.2d 548, 555.) "In any case involving a lesser included offense, the trial court has a duty to give a Dewberry instruction sua sponte." (People v. Crone (1997) 54 Cal.App.4th 71, 76.)

But gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is not a lesser included offense of murder; it is a lesser related offense. (People v. Sanchez (2001) 24 Cal.4th 983, 985 (Sanchez).)4 The principles upon which appellant relies come into play because a

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