California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Rodriguez, B298710 (Cal. App. 2020):
pulling out a gun, and he randomly shoots."7 To apply the instructions Rodriguez argues the trial court erroneously failed to give, the jury would have had to find true a fact Rodriguez vehemently denied, namely, that he started the fight. (See People v. Jo (2017) 15 Cal.App.5th 1128, 1168-1169 [instruction was inconsistent with the defendant's theory of the case because it "required [her] to acknowledge, if only inferentially, the existence of facts which she otherwise denied"]; People v. Meneses (2008) 165 Cal.App.4th 1648, 1665 [mistake of fact instruction was inconsistent with the defendant's theory of the case where he "claimed he did not know the source of [allegedly stolen police reports], not that he thought his source was legal"].)
2. Rodriguez Has Not Demonstrated His Trial Counsel Provided Ineffective Assistance
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