California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Perkins, A144225 (Cal. App. 2016):
Accordingly, because the supplemental instruction comports with both the law of self-defense and the evidence presented at trial, defendant's challenge fails. Quite simply, the jury could have reasonably found on this record and in light of the jury charge as a whole that, because defendant acted as the initial aggressor in placing a gun to the victim's side, he was not entitled to invoke the doctrine of self-defense, perfect or imperfect, to justify his subsequent shooting of the victim, notwithstanding the victim's apparent attempt to reach under his seat for a weapon. (See People v. Frye (1998) 18 Cal.4th 894, 957 [" ' "a single instruction to a jury may not be judged in artificial isolation, but must be viewed in the context of the overall charge. [Citations.]" ' "].)
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