The following excerpt is from Butler v. Montgomery, Case No. 3:16-cv-00039-GPC-MDD (S.D. Cal. 2017):
sponte instruct the jury, the burden on the petitioner is "especially heavy" because "[a]n omission, or an incomplete instruction is less likely to be prejudicial than a misstatement of the law." See id. at 155. Furthermore, "it is the rare case in which an improper instruction will justify reversal of a criminal conviction when no objection has been made in the trial court." Id. at 154; see also Villafuerte v. Stewart, 111 F.3d 616, 624 (9th Cir. 1997).
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