Is a failure to instruct on a lesser included offense reversible?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Dorsey, B252186 (Cal. App. 2015):

The failure to instruct on a lesser included offense is reversible error if and only if it is reasonably probable that the defendant would have obtained a more favorable result absent the error. (People v. Breverman, supra, 19 Cal.4th at pp. 177-178.) Although the evidence may be legally sufficient to support an instruction on a lesser included offense, the relative weight of the evidence may compel the conclusion that there is no reasonable probability that the failure to instruct affected the result. (Id. at p. 177.)

b. Any Error Was Harmless

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