What if the trial court had instructed on the lesser misdemeanor charge rather than the greater charge?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Aguilar, D055775 (Cal. App. 2011):

Alternatively, even if the trial court should have instructed on the lesser misdemeanor offense, given the strong evidence of menace there is no reasonable probability the jury would have returned a verdict on the lesser rather than the greater offense. (See People v. Moye, supra, 47 Cal.4th at p. 556 [error in failing to instruct on lesser included offense may be harmless if evidence supporting judgment is relatively strong and evidence supporting different outcome is comparatively weak].)

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What if the trial court had instructed on the lesser misdemeanor charge rather than the greater charge?

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