In what circumstances will a defendant be found guilty of manslaughter for shooting his wife during a marital quarrel?

Defendant relies largely on People v. Lee (1999) 20 Cal.4th 47, 60-61, in which a husband shot his wife during a quarrel, after he had consumed a large quantity of alcohol. It was not a felony murder case. The defendant was charged with murder and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. (Id. at pp. 54-55.) The instruction on voluntary manslaughter was arguably error, as the marital quarrel did not amount to adequate provocation for that offense. (Id. at pp. 59-60.) The question was whether defendant was entitled to a misdemeanor manslaughter instruction, where the parties agreed the evidence was sufficient to support a second degree murder conviction, and instructions had been given on criminally negligent involuntary manslaughter and voluntary intoxication, but a misdemeanor manslaughter instruction had been omitted. (Id. at pp. 52, 60-61.) The court held defendant was entitled to an instruction on misdemeanor manslaughter because his brandishing of a weapon was a misdemeanor. (Id. at p. 61.) The court concluded that, despite the instructional error, the voluntary manslaughter verdict by the jury was favorable to the defendant, and therefore reversal was not warranted. (Id. at pp. 64-65.) The case is significantly distinguishable from the one before us, which was tried strictly on a felony-murder theory.

Page 20