Can a defendant use force to defend himself against his victim's resort to lawful deadly force?

People v. Szadziewicz (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 823, 834 is instructive. There, we held a defendant may not use force to defend himself against a victim's resort to lawful deadly force. The defendant in that case, armed with a knife and looking to steal drugs, broke into the sleeping victim's hotel room. During his trial for attempted murder, the defendant testified he knifed the victim in self-defense when the victim awoke, leapt out of bed, and pushed the defendant up against a wall. (Id. at p. 834.) Rejecting the defendant's assertion of imperfect self-defense, we explained: "A person who kills or tries to kill someone because he actually, but unreasonably, believes he needs to defend himself from imminent death or great bodily injury is deemed to have acted without malice. [Citations.] Under this unreasonable self-defense theory, the crime committed is manslaughter or attempted manslaughter, not murder or attempted murder. [Citation.] However, a defendant who - through his own wrongful conduct, such as initiating a physical assault or committing a felony - has created circumstances under which his adversary's attack or pursuit is legally justified may not invoke unreasonable self-defense." (Id. at pp. 833-834.)