Does the Attorney General have the authority to refuse instructions on provocation?

We agree with the Attorney General that the record does not contain sufficient evidence of provocation to warrant an instruction on that doctrine as it relates to manslaughter. The trial court erredto defendant's benefitby so instructing. Assuming that the trial court misinstructed on the doctrine, and that the prosecutor misstated its elements, the errors were harmless. (People v. Steele (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1230, 1251-1254 (Steele) [evidence did not show provocation; no need to determine if refused instructions were accurate]. Also, the excluded defense evidence would not have changed the result; that is, adding it to the evidence already in the record would still not warrant instruction on provocation. Therefore, any error in the exclusion of this evidence was also harmless.