California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Strickland, 11 Cal.3d 946, 114 Cal.Rptr. 632, 523 P.2d 672 (Cal. 1974):
This court need not decide whether it was error to give both instructions in this case. Since defendant was convicted of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter, any possible error in the second degree murder instructions would not have influenced the outcome of the case. Thus, the (arguable) error of giving both CALJIC 8.30 and CALJIC 831 was not prejudicial. (People v. Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d 818, 835, 299 P.2d 243.)
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