What are the implications of a modified self-defense instruction in a personal injury case?

While the trial court has no obligation to give a pinpoint instruction absent a request, if the court chooses to instruct the jury on a particular point of law, it must do so accurately; there is no forfeiture if the instruction as given was an incorrect statement of the law. (People v. Castillo (1997) 16 Cal.4th 1009, 1015.) Here, the modified instruction correctly expressed the law as it related to defendant, and the self-defense instructions correctly expressed the law as it related to Louise. "If defendant believed the instruction ... required elaboration or clarification, he was obliged to request such elaboration or clarification in the

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trial court. [Citations.]" (People v. Lee, supra, 51 Cal.4th at p. 638.)¹²

2.3. The instructional error, if any, did not affect defendant's substantial rights.