Can a defendant argue the defense through jury instructions?

Defendant has presented no authority that the right to present a defense includes the right to argue the defense through jury instructions. (Cf. People v. Mincey (1992) 2 Cal.4th 408, 437-438.) The instructions given did not preclude defendant from arguing to the jury that there was insufficient evidence of a specific intent to disfigure and that more had to be shown than the result being a maiming injury. Defendant, in fact, made that argument. Defendant's right to present that defense was in no way compromised by the instructions given.