California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Silliman, C072774 (Cal. App. 2015):
As noted ante, the trial court instructed the jury on voluntary manslaughter. It also instructed generally that voluntary manslaughter is a lesser included offense of murder. Defendant admits he did not object to or ask for clarification of the aiding and abetting instruction. A party must raise an objection to an allegedly incomplete or inadequate instruction to allow the trial court to clarify or amplify it. (People v. Hudson (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1002, 1011-1012.) A contention is forfeited on appeal if the instruction was correct in law and responsive to the evidence, but not if the instruction was an incorrect statement of the law. (Id. at p. 1012.) In this case, as we have discussed, the instruction was responsive to the evidence. It was also correct on the law. Thus, defendant's contention is forfeited.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.