Voluntary Manslaughter: Defense Claims Rejected
January 10th, 2014

  In People v. Genovese (2008) 168 Cal. App. 4th 817, three challenges to CC 571 were rejected. First, the court rejected a claim that the voluntary manslaughter instructions were erroneous because they did not tell the jury the role that malice or lack of malice plays in reducing murder to voluntary manslaughter. Genovese rejected […]


Tags: , ,



CC 3406 Mistake Of Fact As Defense Theory: Not Required Sua Sponte
January 10th, 2014

  The trial judge does not have a sua sponte duty to instruct on mistake of fact. (People v. Lawson (2013) 215 Cal. App. 4th 108.)


Tags: , , , ,



Necessity And Civil Disobedience
January 10th, 2014

  Acts of civil disobedience do not trigger a necessity defense. (See People v. Garziano (1991) 230 Cal. App. 3d 241.)


Tags: ,



CC 540A, CC 540B, CC 540C–Useful Examples Of Situations Where Felony Murder Does Not Apply
January 1st, 2014

  The Related Issues section of this CC contains very useful examples on topics including felony murder not applying when the felony was done only to facilitate murder, imperfect self-defense, and the merger doctrine.


Tags: , ,