If defense counsel failed to request instructions on voluntary intoxication and mental impairment, would this be ineffective assistance?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Galvez, B254807 (Cal. App. 2015):

Moreover, even assuming defense counsel's failure to request instructions on voluntary intoxication and mental impairment constituted ineffective assistance, any such error was harmless. The court in People v. Larsen (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 810 explained that [t]he omission of CALCRIM No. 3428¹³ [which is a pinpoint instruction similar to the involuntary intoxication instruction in CALCRIM No. 3426] could not have misled

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the jury as to the intent element of any of the charged crimes or lesser included offenses. The jury instructions as a whole correctly stated applicable law and instructed on necessary elements. "CALCRIM No. 3428 [like CALCRIM No. 3426] does not delineate or describe an element of an offense. It is a pinpoint instruction relating particular facts to a legal issue in the case." (People v. Larsen, supra, 205 Cal.App.4th at p. 830.)

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