Does the court have a duty to instruct the jury on voluntary and attempted voluntary manslaughter?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Bai, B276076 (Cal. App. 2018):

Appellant contends the court should have instructed the jury on voluntary and attempted voluntary manslaughter based on heat of passion and imperfect self-defense. The trial court has a duty to instruct on any lesser included offense of that charged "when the evidence raises a question as to whether all the elements of the charged offense were present, but not when there is no evidence that the offense committed was less than that charged. [Citation.]" (People v. Cruz (2008) 44 Cal.4th 636, 664.) The duty arises only when substantial evidence supports a reasonable conclusion "that the lesser offense, but not the greater, was committed [citation]"; it does not arise when there is merely "'any evidence . . . no matter how weak.' [Citation.]" (Ibid.)

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