The following excerpt is from Ellis v. Biter, Case No. 1:17-cv-01443-DAD-JDP (E.D. Cal. 2020):
11. Even if petitioner had a right to a lesser included offense instruction here, the evidence presented at trial did not support an instruction on imperfect self-defense. An imperfect self-defense voluntary manslaughter instruction is appropriate when the evidence supports a finding that the defendant had an "actual but unreasonable belief that [he] was in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury." People v. Booker, 51 Cal. 4th 141, 182 (2011). Here, scant evidence was presented to support the view that petitioner had an actual, but unreasonable, belief that he was in imminent danger.
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