What is the test for a jury to find a defendant guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of self-defense?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. ROBINS, B212114, No. MA042065 (Cal. App. 2010):

We examine the entire record in the light most favorable to the judgment and presume the existence of every supporting fact the trier of fact could reasonably deduce from the evidence. (People v. Kraft, supra, 23 Cal.4th at p. 1053.) We accord due deference to the trier of fact, even if the evidence might also be reasonably reconciled with a contrary finding. (Id. at pp. 1053-1054.)

As to defendant's claim of self-defense, a defendant who commits an "unlawful killing of a human being without malice" is guilty of manslaughter. ( 192.) The defendant "lacks malice only in limited, explicitly defined circumstances: either when the defendant acts in a 'sudden quarrel or heat of passion' ( 192, subd. (a)), or when the defendant kills in 'unreasonable self-defense' the unreasonable but good faith belief in having to act in self-defense [citations]." (People v. Barton (1995) 12 Cal.4th 186, 199.)

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