California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Lopez, B251815 (Cal. App. 2015):
Lopez contends that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury sua sponte regarding involuntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of murder. He argues that the evidence was such that a reasonable jury could conclude that he intended to aid and abet a simple assault or misdemeanor exhibition of a firearm, and he cites the principle that where a lesser offense, but not the greater, is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the crime originally aided and abetted, the trial court must instruct the jury that it may find a defendant guilty of the lesser offense, even if it determined the perpetrator was guilty of the greater. (People v. Woods (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 1570, 1585-1588.)
Involuntary manslaughter is an unlawful killing "in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony; or in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection." ( 192.) "Generally, involuntary manslaughter is a lesser offense included within the offense of murder. [Citation.] Due process requires that the jury be instructed on a lesser included offense only when the evidence warrants such an instruction. [Citations.]" (People v. Gutierrez (2002) 28 Cal.4th 1083, 1145.)
When the evidence demonstrates that a defendant committed a deliberate criminal act, not simply a criminally negligent act, and under all the circumstances murder was reasonably foreseeable, the trial court has no sua sponte obligation to give an involuntary manslaughter instruction. (People v. Huynh (2002) 99 Cal.App.4th 662, 679.) Whether murder was reasonably foreseeable must be determined by considering all the
Page 16
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.