California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Castillo, F069262 (Cal. App. 2016):
17. Defendant insists the failure to object below does not forfeit this issue. We are less certain. Section 1259 does provide that this court may review "any instruction given, refused or modified, even though no objection was made thereto in the lower court, if the substantial rights of the defendant were affected thereby." ( 1259.) However, notwithstanding section 1259, "a party may not complain on appeal that an instruction correct in law and responsive to the evidence was too general or incomplete unless the party has requested appropriate clarifying or amplifying language. [Citation.]" (People v. Mackey (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 32, 106, italics in original, internal quotation marks omitted.) When a defendant does not argue that the instruction was inherently erroneous, but instead should have been supplemented, the issue is forfeited when not raised below. (Ibid.) Nonetheless, we will consider the merits of defendant's claim here.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.