Does the rule of lenity apply to a criminal defendant's interpretation of the Penal Code?

Defendant's citation to the rule of lenity, "whereby courts must resolve doubts as to the meaning of a statute in a criminal defendant's favor," (People v. Avery (2002) 27 Cal.4th 49, 57) is inapplicable here because its application is premised on an ambiguity that is not present in this part of the Act. " 'The rule of statutory interpretation that ambiguous penal statutes are construed in favor of defendants is inapplicable unless two reasonable interpretations of the same provision stand in relative equipoise, i.e., that resolution of the statute's ambiguities in a convincing manner is impracticable.' [] Thus, although true ambiguities are resolved in a defendant's favor, an appellate court should not strain to interpret a penal statute in defendant's favor if it can fairly discern a contrary legislative intent." (Id. at p. 58.)