Does a trial court have a duty to instruct on the defense of accident sua sponte?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Haro, E061222 (Cal. App. 2015):
A trial court does not have a duty to instruct on the defense of accident sua sponte. (People v. Anderson, supra, 51 Cal.4th at pp. 997-998.) Instead, the court's duty to instruct on accident, "generally extends no further than the obligation to provide, upon request, a pinpoint instruction relating the evidence to the mental element required for the charged crime." (Id. at p. 997.) "Pinpoint instructions 'relate particular facts to a legal
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