California Court of Appeal

Conviction of defendant for second degree murder is affirmed, where: 1) defendant was not entitled to a sua sponte instruction on justifiable homicide in making an arrest or mistake of fact, as the instruction was not supported by substantial evidence because there was no evidence defendant was attempting to arrest the victim for burglary and because defendant's erroneous belief did not make the murder an innocent act; 2) mistake of fact is not a true affirmative defense implicating the trial court's sua sponte instructional duties; 3) defendant was not entitled to voluntary manslaughter instructions; and 4) the trial court properly excluded evidence of the victim having claimed a gang affiliation.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/27/2015
• Published 01/27/2015

Judges

• Hoch

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel