California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Diaz, E062324 (Cal. App. 2016):
"'In criminal cases, even absent a request, the trial court must instruct on general principles of law relevant to the issues raised by the evidence. [Citation.] This obligation includes giving instructions on lesser included offenses when the evidence raises a question whether all the elements of the charged offense were present, but not when there is no evidence the offense was less than that charged. [Citation.] The trial court must so instruct even when, as a matter of trial tactics, a defendant not only fails to request the instruction, but expressly objects to its being given.'" (People v. Moye (2009) 47 Cal.4th 537, 548.)
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