What duty does a trial court have to instruct a jury on the essential elements of an offense?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Alvarado, B261059 (Cal. App. 2016):

The trial court has a sua sponte duty to instruct "on the essential elements of an offense [citation], and ' "on the general principles of law governing the case, i.e., those principles of law commonly or closely and openly connected with the facts of the case before the court' " ' [citation.] 'An appellate court reviews the wording of a jury instruction de novo' . . . [citation] and determines whether 'the instructions are complete and correctly state the law.' [Citation.]" (People v. Delacerda (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 282, 288.)

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