California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Gonzalez, B252881 (Cal. App. 2015):
actual self-defense"].) Where, as here, there is no substantial evidence of an honest belief in the need to defend oneself or others from an imminent danger of death or great bodily injury, an instruction on imperfect self-defense or defense of another is not required. (People v. De Leon (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 815, 825 [even though trial court gave a perfect self-defense instruction, it properly omitted instruction on imperfect self-defense where "there was no substantial evidence [defendant] honestly believed he was in imminent peril").] The trial court therefore did not err in refusing to instruct the jury on this theory.
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