Is a jury's instruction on voluntary manslaughter sufficient to convict a defendant of manslaughter?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Lasko, 23 Cal.4th 101, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 441, 999 P.2d 666 (Cal. 2000):
[96 Cal.Rptr.2d 450]
In contrast to People v. Breverman, supra, 19 Cal.4th 142, 77 Cal.Rptr.2d 870, 960 P.2d 1094, the trial court here instructed the jury on voluntary manslaughter, correctly explaining to the jury that a killing in the heat of passion is not murder. The court erred only in telling the jury that to convict defendant of voluntary manslaughter, the jury had to find that defendant intended to kill the victim. Defendant insists this instruction could have led the jury to conclude that if he lacked an intent to kill, it had to find him guilty of the more serious crime of murder. But, as previously explained, the trial court's instructions taken as a whole do not support this assertion. Thus, the court's instructional error did not violate defendant's federal constitutional rights to trial by jury or to due process of law.[96 Cal.Rptr.2d 450]
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