California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Monterroso, 101 P.3d 956, 22 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 34 Cal.4th 743 (Cal. 2004):
The information charged murder in counts 3 and 10. As defendant points out, however, a portion of the instructions concerning lesser included offenses mistakenly referred to different counts: "If you are not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the crime charged, you may nevertheless convict him of any lesser crime, if you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of such lesser crime. [] The crime of voluntary manslaughter
[22 Cal.Rptr.3d 21]
is lesser to that charged in counts 1 and 5." In reality, count 1 charged commercial burglary, and count 5 charged false imprisonment. Fearing that the jury was thereby prevented from returning a verdict of manslaughter as a lesser offense to murder, defendant asserts his murder convictions must be reversed. When, however, the jury instructions are considered as a whole, it is not reasonably likely the jury misunderstood the role of the manslaughter instruction. (People v. Kelly (1992) 1 Cal.4th 495, 525-527, 3 Cal. Rptr.2d 677, 822 P.2d 385.)[22 Cal.Rptr.3d 21]
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