California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Guthrie, 144 Cal.App.3d 832, 193 Cal.Rptr. 54 (Cal. App. 1983):
Second, the trial court had no duty to give, sua sponte, a correct instruction on mistake-of-fact. A trial court has a duty, sua sponte, to correct and give a proposed defense instruction that incorrectly states the law where it appears that the defendant is relying on such a defense or if there is substantial evidence supportive of such a defense. (People v. Stewart, supra, 16 Cal.3d at p. 140, 127 Cal.Rptr. 117, 544 P.2d 1317.) Here, neither precondition of the trial court's duty to correct the instruction is present.
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